Through My Eyes
by Dark Lady1
Summary: Emotions aren't meant to be controlled. If they were, Ren and Sofia would've never been together in the first place. Ren realizes this, and hopes Sofia can understand it as well. COMPLETE
1. Blonde, blind and curious

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. I do not own any of the characters from the manga or TV show. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Hotaru. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own the rights to this fanfic.

Author's Note: I started this like midway through my fanfic Inside Out so a LOT of this story will have already been written out. I just felt like sharing that :P

Manta strolled down the busy street corner, hoping to pick up a new book at the corner store with some munchies for Yoh. He was planning on visiting for the afternoon before going back to his own house. So had been the routine the past few Fridays.

It seemed that the old Inn had become Manta's second home. Maybe even a real home to him. His actual home was quite a ways away from the En Inn, though Manta hardly regarded it as 'home'.

Not that he complained; he was just hoping Anna was out somewhere and NOT at the Inn. No matter what he did or said, when she was there he always seemed to get roped into doing some kind of chore.

He went on his tiptoes to see the corner store and grinned, only a street crossing away. All he had to do was wait for the light to change and he'd be on his merry little way.

"Euhm, excuse me?" A voice came from behind Manta. He looked over his shoulder and came to view a pair of legs. He raised his gaze up a few feet and saw a young blonde girl wearing a pair of sunglasses. Smiling with a black top hat, She looked down at him. "Hallo, sorry to bother you. But could you tell me how to get to… Funbari Hill Cemetery?"

"Eh? The cemetery?" The girl had the reminisce of an accent. He couldn't tell what kind. Instead Manta turned around and glanced around to get his bearings. "Sure, it's just down that street and you should be able to see it from there." He instructed, pointing off to the right.

"Enh, could you be a little more specific please?" She asked, taking a step forward. And when she did Manta noticed something.

A walking stick. She had it grasped in her left hand. Manta's heart seemed to jump in his throat when he realized it.

"Oh! Uh—of course, sorry. Uhm." Manta spluttered, feeling awkward and nervous. Well anyone who had to give a blind person directions would be! "H-hey, why don't- why don't I just take you there?"

The girl considered the offer then answered with a warm smile.

"That's sweet. Thank you." She bowed her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. The short teenager blushed lightly with embarrassment and led her to where he had pointed off to. Mentally saying goodbye to the corner store. "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything." She said suggestively. Manta could hear her tapping her walking stick side to side on the pavement in front of her.

"Of course not." He lied, not wanting to make her feel guilty or anything. The walk to Funbari hill would at least take ten minutes. And the several minutes that ticked by in awkward silence weren't much comfort.

Manta wasn't much of a conversationalist but felt like he should say something to her.

"Euh, so… where are you from?" He asked, knowing she couldn't be from around here. Blonde hair wasn't exactly common among Japanese and, of course, that accent. Which he was still trying to figure out.

"Oh, I see my accent is noticeable, nein?" She grinned sheepishly while Manta nodded, chuckling.

"Just a little."

"Ah, well I'm from Germany." She said. "You ever been there?" Manta glanced up at her and saw she was smiling at the conversation.

"Well no, but I've read about it." Of course his father had been everywhere. Manta had to resort to books to experience places.

"Mmm, books can only do so much. Being there is much better." She said very matter-of-factly; as if speaking from experience. Manta nodded.

"Yeah, when I'm older I hope to go there... oh." Manta stopped, and though he was prodded by the blonde's walking stick. "We're here."

She made an agreeing noise behind him and patted the shoulder she had been holding on to. "Thank you. I'm sorry I was an inconvenience."

"Oh no you weren't." Manta said. He had liked the talk, but he was definitely going to be late to Yoh's. "It was nice meeting you--euh..." It had just occurred to him that he hadn't asked for her name until now.

"Sofia." She bent down lightly and held out her hand. Manta shook it. He was of course more accustomed to bowing. But it looked as if she had kept the European tradition.

"My name's Manta. Oyamada Manta. Uh, if you don't mind me asking..." Manta looked around cautiously at all the graves. It was still pretty light out so the ghosts hadn't come out of their graves yet. "If you're from Germany, who do you know that has a grave here in Japan?"

Sofia smiled warmly with her black lipstick. "A friend of a friend."

She took off her top hat and began walking further into the graveyard. _'How's she gonna find it?_' He thought in curiosity.

Out of no where, a spirit appeared beside Sofia. A woman in a pale pink kimono with gold trimmings. She was a brunette, her hair held up by a decorated barrette. It was obvious to say she'd come from around the 1500s or earlier.

Usually, Manta wouldn't have cared. The spirit would've most likely just noticed people coming on to the grounds and decided to take a look.

But he wouldn't have cared ONLY if Sofia weren't wearing the same barrette in her ponytail to hold her own hair up. And he wouldn't have cared only if the blonde herself weren't talking to the spirit and being led to a grave.

"Whu-wuthe!" Manta spluttered. Sofia and the spirit looked over at him. "Y-you can speak to ghosts!"

The girl withdrew her head back in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows. "You can see this spirit?" She asked calmly, pointing to the ghost in the pink kimono.

"Uhuh!" Manta nodded, taking a step closer. "S-so you ha-have a sixth-sense too?"

She nodded. "Well yes." She then raised a finger to her lips, smiling. "Don't tell anyone though."

"Sofia-saaaan." The female spirit tugged on Sofia's sleeve, looking a little anxious. Manta blinked a couple times.

"So is this your 'friend'?" He asked. Sofia nodded.

"Yes, we're coming to see her friend Amidamaru." Sofia smiled sheepishly. "I'm just hoping he hasn't passed onto heaven yet."

"A-Amidamaru?" Manta jumped back. Man this day was odder and odder! Not only had he found someone with a sixth sense, they wanted to see Amidamaru!

"Those rumors about him being an evil samurai are not true!" The spirit snapped, pouting.

"He's not scared of him." Sofia said, trying to calm down her ghost. "Why do you find this odd?" Manta's eyes widened. It was like she'd taken his description right from his thoughts.

"W-well-uh... I know where Amidamaru is!" He burst out. Both Sofia and her ghost looked quite taken aback.

"... He's not here?" She asked; pointing to the ground of where she stood and her spirit hovered. Manta sighed.

"No... but if you wait here, I can bring him to you." Manta swallowed down hard. '_So much for movie night._' Not that he was complaining. This was definitely a lot more interesting than some movies!

Sofia paused for a second, then nodded. "Okay. We'll wait here." Manta smiled and was about to dart off but the female spirit appeared in front of him.

"You tell Amidamaru that Hana sent you! Okay?" She commanded, staring him in the eyes. Manta backed up lightly, nodding.

"D-don't worry. I will."


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic so bleuh!

Author's Note: Bleh, not a big fan of this chapter, a little too OCish for my liking. Hope you guys can put up with it. Please read and review so I know what you like .

"Some German girl with a ghost wants to see Amidamaru?" Yoh asked with his eyebrows furrowed together. "But how can she see ghosts... if she's blind?"

"She doesn't have to see ghosts! She just hears the-- you're missing the point!" Manta threw his arms in the air in frustration. "Look, she's waiting at Funbari Hill for us."

"Her name's Sofia…. What's her spirit's name?" Amidamaru asked, quite interested to find people trying to find him.

"Oh! Her spirit said to tell you that Hana sent me." Manta said, nearly forgetting the message. "I guess her name's Hana."

Yoh and Manta looked up to see Amidamaru's face in surprise. "Amidamaru?" Yoh questioned his name, trying to get a reaction. The samurai snapped out his trance and shook his head.

"My apologies. I-I just haven't heard that name in a long time." He explained.

"So you know her?" Manta stared up at the spirit. He nodded.

"Yes... we have... history." Yoh raised his eyebrows, then grinned slyly.

"Ooooh, sounds like you two had more than history!" The spirit flushed red and bowed his head.

"Euh, I suppose so. Yes."

"Well then what're we sitting around here for?" Yoh stood up off the hardwood deck and into his sandals. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."

Manta gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Right." He said firmly. "Guess movie night'll have to be postponed then."

"Oh well. I'm sure this is more important." 

…

Yoh, Manta and Amidamaru strolled up to the top of Funbari Hill with the large, bare of leaves, oak tree standing atop to scare all who dared to stare upon it with its jagged branches.

Underneath sat Sofia, top hat in her lap and glancing in their direction.

"Manta?" She spoke the name and Manta answered.

"It's me, I brought Amidamaru and my friend Yoh." That answer put her off slightly.

"You brought a friend?" She asked, taken aback. Yoh stepped forward smiling.

"Hi, my name's Yoh." Sofia got to her feet, grasping her walking stick. He noticed her expression and bowed. "It's okay, Amidamaru is my guardian ghost. I felt I should be here."

Sofia raised an eyebrow. "Guardian Ghost?... Does that mean you're a shaman?"

There was a full group blink. Yoh was the first one to speak. "You know about shamans?" She gave a nod.

"Yes, very much so." When she nodded, Amidamaru noticed the butterfly barrette in her hair, then growled, drawing his sword.

"Where did you get that!" Yoh looked over his shoulder at the samurai and gulped. Amidamaru looked dangerous. His sword drawn to aim at the German girl's neck. "Answer me or I'll--"

"Or you'll what?" Another voice came in. Hana appeared in front of Sofia, blocking his sword from going anywhere. "Honestly Amidamaru, seeing you now makes me believe more and more of those rumors." There was a superior, all-knowing tone to her voice.

There was a pause. A very long one at that. Amidamaru had frozen at the sight of the female spirit. Her brown hair held up by the decorated barrette. Her pink kimono straying into a spirit form at the end, gold outlining the trim. Her calm, chocolate eyes staring him down.

Amidamaru slowly sheathed his sword again and looked her over. "H-Hana..." He swallowed down hard and let out a breath. "I-I... it's good to see you?" Hana gave him a questioning look.

"Over half a century I haven't seen you and you greet me li--!" Her rant was cut short by him. He'd hovered over to her and enveloped her in a hug.

"My Hana..." He mumbled, one arm around her waist and the other on her back. "Hana-chan..." Hana herself had her eyes closed, nuzzling against the samurai's bare chest.

"Amidamaru-kun..."

"... Should we go?" Manta whispered to Yoh, feeling uncomfortable to be watching such a display of affection. Yoh shrugged, sweat dropping heavily.

Amidamaru's cheeks reddened and he let go of Hana, facing his master. "Yoh-dono, this is Hana Horutari." Yoh rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"Uh, nice to meet you." He bowed, Hana did the same.

"Oh finally someone who bows!" She laughed. "I've spent my afterlife in Europe and all they do there is shake hands." Sofia sweatdropped and nodded.

"Took her two years to stop bowing." She then gasped. "Oh how rude, I haven't given a proper introduction." She then bowed to everyone. "My name is Sofia Faust."

"Faust...?" Yoh raised his eyebrows. "Faust like... Faust the eighth?" Sofia looked surprised.

"Euh, well in way. That's my father." Yoh blinked a few times before grinning.

"Really? Wow that's kinda ironic. He's my next opponent!" Sofia's expression went from surprise to shock in a nano second.

"Th-then that means you're Yoh Asa-- asa…. Oh something that ends with an 'a'..." She mumbled in annoyance.

"Asakura." He answered.

"That's the one. I-I'm sorry. All Japanese names kind of sound the same to me." She smiled sheepishly.

"No problem."

"But there is. You see... if you value your life, you will not fight my father."

Yoh was definitely taken off guard by that comment. "A-Are you threatening me?" He asked, remembering the fact that she was blind.

"No, no. Nothing of the sort!" She waved her hands lightly to show she meant nothing of what he said. "It's just... you will not win against my father."

"You seem pretty confident about that." He said, still keeping his calm exterior. In his head though he grew a little suspicious of her words.

"I am. My father is powerful. And I suggest you drop out of that match." Sofia then looked over to Hana's direction. "Hana it's getting late, we should be getting back to the hotel."

The female spirit hesitated but nodded, giving Amidamaru one last tight squeeze before hovering to Sofia's side. "It was great meeting you Manta and your friends. I hope you see me again." Manta chuckled at the joke at the end of her sentence and nodded. Though was a little frightened about the ominous warning.

"Henh, y-yeah."

And at that, she put on her top hat with the yellow ribbon and walked down the graveyard path, Hana guiding her.

"Well that was... cheery." Yoh said awkwardly, digging his hands back into his pockets. "Let's be getting back. I think it's gonna rain."


	3. Remembering you

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. Nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all my characters. That including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari, and her Hana's dad. I own the rights to this fanfic so Bleuh!

Author's Note: Words 'onegai' means please, 'hai' means yes, 'gomen nasai' means sorry, 'arigatou' means thank you, and 'so desu ka' means is that so. Get used to these translation paragraphs at the beginning. They'll be popping up a lot more often. Also—please review to tell me if you like what I'm doing or if you want my head on a pike.

Yoh lounged on the floor, half his body hidden underneath the table, while both him and Amidamaru watched a movie they managed to pick up on the way back home. Manta was at his own house, having taken the train on the way back.

Amidamaru had been unusually quiet ever since they'd left Funbari Hill. Yoh had asked him about it, but all the samurai would say was that seeing Hana had jogged a few memories.

And now as the movie progressed to where the teenagers in the haunted house started disappearing, Yoh noticed that Amidamaru wasn't looking. Not even paying attention to the screaming, let alone the magic of the people being shown inside a box called a TV.

Yoh sighed, feeling weird with Amidamaru being so quiet. So he picked up the remote and turned off the TV. The sudden lack of screaming seemed to snap the ghost out of his stroll in memory lane.

"Yoh-dono?"

"Amidamaru, are you sure you're okay?" Amidamaru smiled at his master's concern and nodded.

"Yes, I told you. I'm just... remembering." Yoh folded his arms and lied his head on them.

"Well, penny for your thoughts?" The teenager was trying to coax a conversation out of him. Amidamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Penny?" He was clueless. Yoh sweatdropped.

"Euh, it's an expression. It means how about sharing your thoughts."

"Oh, well." Amidamaru looked down lightly. "I was just thinking of how I first met Hana."

"How did you meet? You certainly didn't mention her before. Did you?"

"Well I died a few years after the last time I saw her, and six hundred years of time to think about my debt to Mosuke was certainly flying around my head. So… it is easy to forget certain things.…"

"Hmm… so then? How did you two meet?" Yoh pressed the matter, liking to get to know Amidamaru more and more.

The samurai paused, trying to remember the event. "Well we were both very young. I was about three years older than she was."

…

'_Her father was a thief, trying to get into the garden of crops we were growing for the orphans_.'

A bald man with whiskers on his cheek approached the garden, still quite a few meters off from it. His clothes were tattered and dirty, and he wasn't very big. Yet he was still a grown man, and his worst fear was of a small boy.

He'd heard stories of a demon child wielding a sword that protected the vegetables…. But he had no choice. He was hungry and had no money to buy his own vegetables.

An eleven-year-old version of Amidamaru hid behind a tree a meter or so off from the garden. He'd seen the man approaching and had immediately gotten ready.

Three thieves had already tried to steal from the garden today! Amidamaru was getting frustrated, wanting to go back to the abandoned temple where everyone else was and take a nap for once.

But he had his duty and stood by.

The man's eyes darted this way and that, hoping to make sure he saw no sign of movement. To his relief, there was nothing to tell him otherwise.

So before someone COULD come, the man sprinted for the garden, so close to grabbing some lettuce. But he was cut short.

Literally.

His head flew off, landing on the ground behind the body. The man's body stood for a second or so before collapsing in a heap with the head.

Amidamaru winced as a hefty amount of blood sprayed onto his clothing. He sighed, taking out a cloth stuffed into his clothing and wiping his face and Harusame off.

He looked down at the body with another sigh. '_Guess I'll have to clean this up... Don't want his blood tainting the soil._'

And he was about to kneel down and pick up the body, but--

"Otousan!" A voice cried. Amidamaru looked up and saw a young girl run towards him.

"E-eh?" He backed up a little, and saw the little girl stop in front of the body, her eyes starting to shine with tears. Her clothes were just as dirty as the thief's. Her brown hair frayed and knotted, she looked only a few years younger than him self.

He leaned forward. "O-otousan?" '_No... no he can't be. Onegai... Please don't let him be_.'

The girl didn't answer him; instead she wrapped her arms around herself and whimpered mildly. Amidamaru took a step to her. The movement made the girl look up, her expression drawn with fright.

"No! No!" She backed up as he had come forward. His heart pained. It was true he was feared by those who thought of stealing from the garden. But those were grown men. Adults. He didn't want a girl near his age scared of him. He was supposed to be one that protected children like her. But now he had made her like him. An orphan. Amidamaru kept his eye contact with her. "L-Look, I'm putting away my sword." He showed her very slowly how he sheathed his sword back near his belt. He held up his hands to show no sign of danger. "There, see? I'm harmless to you. No weapons."

The girl glared at Amidamaru and instead of feeling safer and calming down, she pulled out a pan from her robes and ran to him. Amidamaru, severely caught off guard, was THWACKED to the ground by the girl.

A cooking pan to the head. The girl panted, gripping the pan fiercely. And she was about to hit him again, until a voice shouted out to them.

"Amidamaru! You can come back now, it's getting late!" A tall boy with rugged, black hair came into the garden. It certainly didn't take him long to notice the bleeding, decapitated body and Amidamaru in a heap with a little girl standing over him, holding a frying pan.

The fifteen-year-old version of Mosuke paused for a second to take in his surroundings, but soon came to a calm look and strolled forward. The girl gripped her pan and cautiously stepped back.

Mosuke stopped in front of the thief and kneeled down. He looked up at the girl saying, "Do you know this man?" The girl, surprised he wasn't angry, gave a slow nod.

"M-my otousan." She lowered her pan and bowed her head. Mosuke sighed and picked up the body, leaving the head for later.

"Would you like to help me bury him?" Another slow nod, though she didn't look him in the eye. Mosuke smiled and walked off, the girl following him.

A few hours later, Amidamaru woke up with his head throbbing with pain. He winced lightly, feeling something warm on his face and stiff around his head. He winced his eyes before shuttering them open.

He was in the abandoned temple, underneath the reminisce of a blanket with one of the orphans using his face as a pillow. He raised his arm, though it was hard thanks to the weakening of sleep. He traced his fingers along some cloth, wrapped around his forehead.

'_Bandaging? Was I in a fight?_' With some careful shifting and slow movement, Amidamaru was able to sit up. But of course it didn't go unpunished. His head pounded with the movement of his body and he winced once more.

He looked around and saw everyone was asleep. It was nighttime, and it must've been late for Mosuke to be asleep as well.

But there was one figure he noticed, leaning against the wall of the temple, shivering lightly. Amidamaru stood up, much to his head's complaint, and grabbed a blanket.

The girl noticed the sounds of his movement and looked up, the same scared look in her eyes that he had seen earlier that day. But he didn't stop walking, Amidamaru walked up right beside her, kneeled down and draped her in the blanket.

Though she still gave him a cautious stare, she accepted the blanket and held it over her.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, sitting down. She looked away and gave a nod. Amidamaru made an agreeing noise. "Yeah, most new orphans who come here take awhile to adjust before they actually get comfortable."

He saw that she was still looking away from him, and still down. So he tried to lighten the mood. "You know, you sure pack a wallop with that pan." Her eyes glanced over at him, watching him rub his head where he could feel a large goose egg. "I must've been out for--what-- 4 hours?"

She expression softened, but no smile. Amidamaru sighed. Usually the orphans he tried to cheer up would at least talk. But of course, he hadn't killed one of their parents. He hadn't made the orphans an orphan.

"I know you're mad at me for... well... killing your dad. But you've gotta understand I was just--"

"Protecting the garden." He looked up and saw the girl still looking away. But she was finally talking. "I know. Mo-Mosuke told me you have to make sure no one gets to the garden. 'Cause it's all for the orphans." She tightened her hold on the blanket. "I'm not mad at you for that."

Amidamaru rose an eyebrow. "But you ARE mad at me?"

"Hai."

"Well then why ARE you mad at me if it's not for killing your dad?" She turned to him, facing him. It was an odd face to see on an eight-year-old. So serious and calm.

"I'm mad because you didn't say sorry." Amidamaru drew his head back in confusion.

"You're mad because I didn't apologize?"

She nodded. Then her eyes began to shine. "M-my otousan said that when people say sorry, it's because they know what they did wrong and they feel guilty about doing it." She sniffled lightly. "If you didn't say sorry, you don't feel guilty."

Amidamaru blinked a few times, surprised at such wise things coming from a little girl. Then again, her life couldn't have been very well off. She must've had to be mature about certain things.

He bowed his head. She did have a good right to be mad. When answering, he chose his words carefully, making sure he wouldn't anger her further.

"You're right. I'm not sorry, nor do I feel guilty about killing your father." She clenched her fists. "However, I do feel guilty about putting you through more pain in your life. I can see that all I've done is made it harder. And that's the last thing I would ever want to do to a ch-- you."

Amidamaru got to his feet, closed his eyes and bowed deeply. "Gomen-nasai." He opened one eye to look at her and saw she was smiling a little.

"Arigatou Amidamaru-sama." He blushed at the superiority put to his name and sat back down.

" You know my name?" She nodded.

"Hai, Mosuke told me." He looked over his shoulder at Mosuke, and just for a second he thought he had seen the teenager looking at the both of them. But his eyes were closed.

"So desu ka? Well I think it's unfair you know my name and I don't know yours." The girl bowed her head, not bothering to get up.

"My name is Hana Horutari."

…

Amidamaru sighed, thinking fondly of his memories. When he glanced back over at Yoh, he'd found that his master had fallen asleep on his folded arms.

The samurai rolled his eyes with a shake of his head.


	4. A Strange Visitor

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. Not me. Him. It's a very simple concept. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights and plot to this fanfic so bleh.

Author's Note: I had to change some of the argument with Sofia and Yoh a couple times but now I think I'm happy with it. Again, please review to tell me if you like what I'm doing or would rather have my head on a pike. Chapter Four!

Sofia, guided by Hana, walked into the hospital building with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. It was an odd sight. All of her clothing was black and her skin was quite pale, making quite an odd contrast. Yet she held such colorful things wrapped in plastic.

Hana led her to the front desk from the waiting room. Sofia leaned on the counter, signaling to a nurse to come forward.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'd like to visit someone here." Sofia said, pointing out the bouquet card. "Would I be allowed in Yoh Asakura's room?"

"Hmm, Yoh Asakura you say?" The nurse walked over to a board with the written names and rooms being displayed to all. "Yoh Asakura... yes here he is. He's in the B ward. Room 301."

The nurse grasped Sofia's arm and led her to a corridor. "Just go down here and it'll be the fourth door on your left. Okay?"

Sofia made an agreeing noise with a nod. "Yes, thank you." The nurse strolled away to attend to her work and Sofia continued down the directed corridor. Of course, helpfully guided by Hana.

"Are you sure this is wise, Sofia-san?" Hana asked, looking concerned.

Sofia sighed with a nod. "I know they might not be happy to see us, but I feel it's right to give condolences."

"Actually, that's not what I was really worried about." She saw Sofia wince, but the blonde took in a deep breath and smoothed out her expression. "This can be a place of... pain."

Sofia nodded. "Don't worry. I'm displacing myself as much as I can."

"We're here." Hana pointed out the fourth door and glanced in. Sofia turned and dragged her walking stick in front of her, figuring out how big the doorframe was to walk in.

Anna looked up from Yoh to the two visitors and arched an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" She asked, her tone as direct as always.

Sofia smiled and bowed. "No, I'm just here as a visitor. I--" She held up the bouquet. "I brought these."

"Hey Sofia." Yoh greeted with a small wave. "Hey Hana. Sorry Amidamaru isn't here. Anna said he was... euh... disrupting my healing is how you put it, right?" Yoh sweatdropped as Anna answered with a scorn.

"Yes. Now who are you?" She asked, turning back to the stranger before her.

"Anna I just said her na--" Yoh was cut off with a jab to his ribs.

Sofia flinched as she did so but clenched her walking stick to calm herself down.

"My name is Sofia Faust. I met Yoh a week or so ago." Anna did a brief double take but was soon back to her cool exterior.

"Faust... as in...? She let her question drift off, knowing Sofia would know what she meant.

"Yes, I'm his daughter." Anna nodded.

"I remember him mentioning you. I think it's a little odd for you to be here though. Your father nearly killed Yoh and you show up with some flowers?"

Sofia took in the rant and nodded. "Yoh is lucky he WASN'T killed. If it hadn't been for that boy on a... horse, I believe, Yoh certainly wouldn't be able to talk right now."

Yoh gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah. That was Tao Ren. I guess I am glad he interfered." He then gave a sympathetic look. "And I'm sorry about your mom."

Sofia could tell how he meant sorry. He wasn't saying sorry for calling her a doll or for chopping off her lower legs. Nor was he saying sorry about her dying. He was saying sorry for her being used in such a way by her father.

Sofia nodded in acknowledgement. Knowing what things he had said during the battle of him and Faust.

"There is no need to apologize." She smiled. Yoh smiled back and looked up to Anna.

"Anna, can I talk with her alone?" The Itako gave him a reproachful look.

"And just what are you talking about tha-"

"Please Anna." The blonde paused to narrow her eyes. She finally rolled her eyes with a scoff and walked off.

"Five minutes. I'm just getting a soda."

"Thanks."

Anna passed by Sofia and tipped her head up in a rather snobbish way. Looking a little miffed. Sofia scratched the back of her neck.

"She's... charming." She said slowly. Yoh nodded with a laugh.

"Yeah if you think scary is charming." Sofia grinned.

"So, what is it you needed to talk to me about?" She came forward to the bed posts and handed him the bouquet.

"Well it's about... your father's beliefs."

"About bringing the dead back to life?" Sofia had this sort of air of knowing what he was thinking. He nodded.

"Yeah. Do you actually believe he can do it?" The blonde sighed, taking off her top hat.

"With the amazing things he has already done... it's hard not to believe him." Yoh leaned back on the pillows.

"Do you believe… it SHOULD be done?" This question came hesitantly. But Sofia smiled warmly.

"I do. I know what my father is capable of I want this to happen more then anything in the whole world."

"I'm not saying it can't be done... I'm saying it's not right. People are meant to die."

"It's what makes life precious, right?" Sofia traced her walking stick around and found a chair to seat herself in.

"Exactly." Her face twitched and she began rubbing at her cheek.

"I understand what you mean Yoh. But it seems so unfair... to have her stolen away the way she was. So young." She didn't say it, but Yoh had a feeling that Sofia felt that she herself had been too young to have her mother taken away.

"Life isn't fair. But facts are facts. People are MEANT to die." Yoh sympathized Sofia. He really did. But not because she'd lost her mother at such a young age. To have the memory of her preserved in such a way that it was haunting.

It seemed so wrong to be playing with life and death the way her father chose to.

"And who says people aren't meant to live again?" Sofia flinched again. Yoh raised an eyebrow at the action. Why did she keep doing that? Did she have a cramp or something? "I'm sorry Yoh, but I just can't go on thinking that people are just meant to die at a certain time."

He sighed, relaxing his limbs a little into his pillow. He was too tired to be in a philosophical argument with this girl. And as if to mirror his thought, Sofia yawned.

"Awnn... S'cuse me. I suppose you're tired so I'll leave you to sleep." Yoh furrowed his eyebrows. '_How did she know I was tired?_' He decided to dismiss it as coincidence.

Sofia got to her feet and put on her top hat. "Hope you see me again." He gave a slow nod, still curious to her habits. She paused with her movement and shrugged. "Don't worry about. It doesn't matter."

Yoh drew his head back in confusion. "Worry about what?" Sofia smiled.

" I told you, it doesn't matter."

Hana led Sofia out of the room and gave a bow as she left before going back to her master. Yoh nodded his head before giving a shake of his head. Sofia was... weird.

Anna strolled back into the room, sipping from a grape, soda can. "Have a nice chat?" She asked, licking her lips of the grape liquid

He gave a shrug. "Euh, yeah I guess."


	5. The After Party

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic so bleuh.

Author's Note: Any quotes that have around the words being said are in a different language just so yeah know. Also, this chapter WILL be edited later on. I'm just waiting for the issue of when this happens so I can do it properly.

PS: "_Italics mean this is in a different language."_

" _Dad I'm just going out for awhile. I'll be back in a few hours or so_." Sofia said in her German tongue, slipping into her shoes and grabbing a jacket. Her sunglasses as always were present.

Her father made an agreeing noise, hunched over her mother's body trying to repair her legs. They're broken off again during his third match and it seemed like he'd have to go grave robbing for a fresh batch of legs. She sighed before closing the door.

Beside her, appeared Hana looking curious.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Sofia smiled.

"To Yoh's. He's invited us to a get together at his house with his friends." The spirit looked surprised.

"We certainly haven't seen him in awhile."

"He told me he was training in a place called Izumo. He and his friends just got back from the ceremony and he wants to celebrate." Sofia explained, buttoning up her coat.

Hana furrowed her eyebrows together. "Do you know where it is?"

"There's a cab waiting for us downstairs. We just have to tell him to go to the old 'En Inn' and the driver will know where to go apparently."

The spirit furrowed her brow. "Are you sure you should be going to an Inn? They're usually… crowde—"

"I'll be fine." Sofia cut in, already starting to walk down the hallway. Hana shook her head and followed behind. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

--

HoroHoro walked into the dining room with an arm slumped around Tao Ren's shoulder. Not only to be casual, but also to make sure Ren went where HoroHoro wanted him to go.

The Chinese shaman looked annoyed and impatient. But apparently to Yoh, that meant he was excited.

"Don't worry Ren, tonight's gonna be great." Yoh kneeled down at the table while Ren took the seat across from him. HoroHoro plopped down right beside the brunette.

Manta raised an eyebrow, having been sitting at the table the entire time with Tamao. "Why'd you bring him?"

"Yes that's what I'D like to know." Ren said coldly, arm on the table holding up his head. Yoh laughed at Ren's attempt to look cool. HoroHoro just grinned.

"I thought it'd be nice for him to meet everyone." Ren glanced over at Manta and smirked.

"Well I already KNOW you. And I see you might've even gotten shorter, if that's possible." Manta glared, folding his arms. And he was sitting only a mat or so away from him. This would be an enjoyable dinner.

Yoh sweat dropped and turned to HoroHoro. "So, euh, you were telling me about how you won all the rest of your matches!"

The bluenette faced Yoh and nodded. "Yeah! Without a hitch. Nothing me and Kororo had to sweat about!" The afore mentioned koropokur floated out from HoroHoro's collar, quickly making her way over to Manta.

"Oh good lord." Ren mumbled. Unfortunately, very aloud. HoroHoro fumed at the teen, making him look up. "Oh I'm sorry, did I say that out loud? My mistake." Though of course, he couldn't have meant more of the opposite.

"So uhm… Master Yoh." Tamao hesitated, turning to face him from beside HoroHoro. Yoh laughed nervously. "How were… uhm; h-how were all your matches?"

"Eh? Well let's see. I won my first match, lost my second and you know I had a tie with Ren on my last one today."

"Hmph, I'd certainly hate to meet the lower life form that got beat by your third-rate oversoul before your training."

"Ahem!" Horohoro glowered over at the purplenette, Kororo joining in with him. Manta snorted with laughter while Yoh sweat dropped yet again and scratched the back of his neck.

"Calm down HoroHoro. He's just silly."

"Silly?" Ren took on an insulted expression. "I am, in no WAY, silly." Yoh waved dismissively with a grin, turning back to HoroHoro. The snowboarder looked around, apparently his anger forgotten.

"Well… it's nice to be indoors. It's starting to get cold out there."

"You're Ainu aren't you?" Ren asked, noting the designs on his clothing and Kororo. "Well I suppose you don't really get the advantages of indoor plumbing often, do you?" HoroHoro turned to Yoh incredulously

The blue-haired teenager drew his head back in confusion and jerked his thumb over to Ren, turning to Yoh.

"What's his deal!" Yoh laughed a little.

"Forget him. He's nervous about meeting new people." The Tao teen scoffed.

"Ohh yes because I'm just so nervous about being around all these strong shaman!" Ren's sentence practically dripped with sarcasm.

Yoh smiled with a shake of his head. "Oh quit acting so tough Ren." Ren opened one eye and managed a glare with it.

"Just WHO is acting?"

…

Sofia stepped out of the cab with Hana to help her and brushed herself off. The car drove off into the night, leaving the blonde with a shiver up her skirt.

"Let's go, let's go!" The ghost asked, wanting the poor girl out of the October chill. Sofia traced her way up the path with her walking stick.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Anna glanced out the window at the noise and saw Sofia coming up the path to the porch. 'I suppose I should help her.' Though the Itako did nothing of the sort. Instead she looked back down at the book she was reading and continued to do so.

She heard Sofia step into the house and ask aloud if anyone was here. Anna sighed and looked up.

"Corridor to your left. The shouting shouldn't be hard to miss... and take off your shoes."

Sofia gasped and gave a nod. "Oh yes! Th-the slipper thing."

She took off her shoes and Hana pulled out a pair of guest slippers for her. The female spirit took off Sofia's coat and hung it up with the others, guiding her down the corridor.

"I know! Let's play, tip the REN!" Came to their ears as soon as they got three steps within the dining room. Sofia raised an eyebrow in surprise and slid open the door.

"Hallo?" She cautiously greeted. Sofia relied on her ears and heard a pause of voices. She heard Yoh greet her in and when she took one step in, she felt a great wash over of sympathy and awkwardness.

"Hey Sofia, come on in and just pick a seat." Hana guided her to the right and she brushed her fingers against the wall before having Hana tug on her shirt for her to sit down.

She suddenly felt someone enjoying themselves close to her, though trying to hide it.

"Horohoro, Ren, Tamao, this is Sofia. Sofia, on your left is Ren." She held out her hand to greet Ren but he didn't accept it. All she heard was a 'hmph.' "... To your right is Tamao." She turned to face Tamao and shook her hand. Albeit she was rather hesitant at first.

" Uhm- h-hi Sofia-san." She said. Sofia bit her lip and smiled awkwardly. She felt nervous now.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you Tamai." Out of the corner of her ear she heard Ren snort.

"Err--." Tamao sweat dropped at the mispronunciation of her name. "It's nice to meet you too." Sofia felt a glare coming on, most likely directed at Ren. She managed to keep her face calm.

"And in front of you is Horohoro." Yoh continued on with the introductions

"Hey there." Horohoro bowed, and seeing as Sofia couldn't reach over the table, she gave a nod.

"It's nice to meet you all, thank you for having me." She greeted politely, taking off her top hat and placing it behind her.

"So tell me Yoh, are you going to complete this whole happy family of your opponents by bringing in Faust next. Lord knows it couldn't be a party without him." Ren said, sarcasm no-where near from going away.

Yoh blinked then smiled. "Well actually, we kinda have completed the happy family. You're sitting next to his daughter."

Ren was finally caught off guard. His eyes widened and he looked over to Sofia, looking her up and down. She turned her head to face him with a smile.

Now that he looked at her, she did share a resemblance. True, Ren had only taken a glance at Faust and his wife. But it was there. The blonde hair and pale skin were dead giveaways really. An all around dead look to her.

She wore a black, button-up shirt with long sleeves and a collar that went around her shoulders. Underneath was a spaghetti strap shirt that poked on her bare shoulders. On her lower half she wore a black skirt that went down to her calves and at the end, the trim was frilled. The dark sunglasses and black lipstick topped off the whole outfit.

So unlike her parents, Sofia was extremely gothic.

Sofia smiled with her dark lips and held out her hand again. "Hallo, my name is Sofia Faust. It's nice to meet you Ren."


	6. Dinner Conversation

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic so bleuh.  
The night wore on with more arguments between Ren and almost everyone else. But Yoh would laugh it off, saying that he was doing great and that Ren was having fun. Despite the tough act.

Tamao and Pirika helped Yoh bring in the food and suddenly everyone's mouths were switched from talking to food.

"Uh, h-here. I-I uh... I got this f-for you." Tamao stuttered, handing Sofia a fork and placing it in her palm. The blonde gave a smile.

"Thank you." She nodded her head and once she had a bowl of rice and a separate one with noodles and egg rolls, she began to eat. The others soon followed, Anna and Pirika even joined them for the meal.

But Ren apparently wasn't as hungry and decided to talk. To Sofia. She'd been quiet most of the evening; though she'd laugh at all the arguments and the way Yoh would go on about they were just having fun.

Ren was looking to start another argument. In a slightly sadistic way, it was fun for him.

"So Sofia, how exactly did you come to be blind?" Ren asked bluntly, taking a sip of milk from his cup. She looked up, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Ren!" Horohoro scorned, looking incredulous. "Don't ask that!"

"Why not? It's a simple question." Ren said, looking calm. Even Yoh thought that was a little wrong to do.

"It's not exactly dinner conversation." Sofia said, still chewing lightly on some food in her mouth.

"But I'm just dying to know. Unless you're too embarrassed...?"

"Ren no!" Pirika huffed, giving the Chinese boy a dark look.

"No, no, it's okay." Sofia shrugged, waving at them to dismiss their anger. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Well then... let's have it." Ren coaxed, though trying to think of other ways to get on her nerves.

"Ah well... it took my Vatti 20 years before he actually cured my mother's disease. I was born during those twenty years, so the disease infected my eyes."

Ren arched an eyebrow while Horohoro, Tamao, Pirika and Manta bowed their heads. It was a sad thing to hear. A child being born blind certainly couldn't have led a happy life. And they had already been told about her mother so that made their sympathy grow.

But Sofia shook her head. "Please, don't sympathize me. I don't mind how I live."

Horohoro looked up, scratching the back of his neck. "I know people don't like pity, but it IS a sad story."

"Not really. I could've died the day I was born but I didn't. I'm glad I got away with only being blind." That seemed to end the conversation. Sofia picked up her bowl of rice again. "Now stop it and eat." She ended sharply. Agreements could be heard and everyone began gobbling down their food.

"Hey Sofia, do you think you could stay the night?" Yoh asked, glancing up from his rice. Sofia wiped at her mouth with a shrug.

"Not sure. I'd have to call my Vatti." She traced her fingers around and picked up an egg roll, taking a bite out of it.

"Our phones are disconnected here. But there's a phone booth just a few houses down." He suggested, going back to his rice. Sofia nodded her head.

….

In only an hour's time, all the food on the table had disappeared without a trace. Unless you were to notice the full and satisfied stomachs around the table.

"It's been so long since I've had a properly, home-cooked meal." Horohoro commented, patting his belly. Sofia nodded in agreement.

"Ja. Same here."

Yoh leaned his head against the wall and glanced over at Ren. "How was your food?" The Chinese teenager shrugged, not wanting to actually give a compliment.

"It was edible."

"Well you looked pretty happy scarfing it down the way you did." Horohoro said with an eyebrow raised. Ren glared threateningly.

"Hey, hey, before you start going at each other again, how about walking Sofia to the phone booth, Ren?" Yoh asked picking up his dish and cup. Both Ren and Sofia looked a little surprised at the suggestion.

"Why should I do it?" He asked, still feeling a little lazy from eating so much food.

"Well she can't get there by herself. And you're supposed to be raised like a gentleman, aren't you?" Yoh smiled, knowing he was just getting to Ren.

Ren himself sighed in annoyance and stood up. "Let's go then." Sofia picked up her cane and hat before getting to her feet, all while he tapped his foot impatiently. She put on her hat with a scorn.

"Geduld, geduld." She quipped in German, brushing herself off. Manta laughed with Horohoro.

"Bet she totally just called you something dirty!" HoroHoro said between sniggers. Ren rolled his amber eyes.

"She said be patient, idiot." Sofia placed a hand on his shoulder. At first he thought it was to silence him, but it turned out she just needed to do so to follow him.

He led her out of the dining room and through the corridors, straight to the lobby so they could put on their shoes and coats.

"You know German?" Sofia asked, though it was more statement then question. She sat down and felt around for her shoes. Ren handed them to her and grabbed his own.

"I know many languages." He said, quite haughtily. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"Really. How many?" Ren pulled on his jacket and folded his arms.

"Not that it's really any of your business, but I happen to know five languages."

He took her outside to the porch and looked both ways of the street to try and spot the phone booth. To his luck, it wasn't far away. Just like Yoh had said, only a few houses down. With her hand on his shoulder and him figuring out how long it would get to the phone, they set off.

"So you're fighting in the Shaman King tournament." Sofia said, apparently trying to get a conversation going. Ren grumbled something in Chinese (very loudly though, as Sofia noted) before answering.

"Yes."

" How have your matches gone?"

"Fine." Sofia pouted lightly.

"Oh... good." Ren looked up at the sky with a glare. She'd been subtle but he knew she was purposely trying to guilt him into talking. The blonde really knew how to piss him off in the right ways.

"I won my first two matches and tied with Yoh today." He explained, in a very rushed voice. Sofia smiled.

"That's good."

"How was your father's last match?" He asked; sounding a little forced of the question.

"He won it."

"I suppose that means his oversoul actually managed to pick up another win then." Sofia paused.

"Yes... she did."

"Oh you actually refer to that toy of his as a person. How charming." He felt the grip on his shoulder tighten lightly and he smirked.

"Stop trying to start a fight with me Ren." She said after a minute or so. Ren raised his eyebrows in fake surprise.

"Who? Me? I was merely commenting on your father's... fetish."

"Oh really." She said; her voice was one of doubt. "You know what you're saying to me is rude. You're only saying it to get a rise out of me." And yet she didn't sound angry.

On the contrary, she sounded cheerful about him saying such things to her. Her first reaction was only that. A reaction. A reaction to insulting words.

"If they're so rude then why aren't you angry with me?" He figured she must've just been suppressing her anger just so he wouldn't win.

"Because I'm happy you're rude to me." She put simply. Ren furrowed his eyebrows together, looking bewildered.

"You're happy I'm rude to you?"

"Aren't we at that phone yet?" Sofia asked, angering him lightly for not answering him. But when Ren looked up, he found he'd almost passed the phone booth.

"Here we are." Ren announced in a cautious tone. Still curious about her being so cheerful, he strolled over to the booth and handed her the phone.

"D... do you know the number to the hotel?" She asked slowly, a little embarrassed. Ren sweat dropped.

"You don't even know the number! And you made me walk with you with that blithering small talk and you didn't even know the number!"

Sofia giggled, though trying to stifle it by biting down on her lower lip. "Yes?" Ren let out a loud and annoyed sigh, snatching away the phone and dialing in the number. "What're you doing?"

"I'm dialing the number!"

"You yelled at me for bringing you along without knowing the number and you knew the number the whole time!"

"I wasn't yelling at you for not knowing the number I was yelling at you for your idiocy!" Ren suddenly hushed up and began speaking in a well-mannered tone instead of the insulting one he'd just been using. "Hai," To Sofia she'd thought he'd just said 'Hi'. "I'd like to be connected to the room where a Mr. Faust and his daughter are staying. Arigatou."

He pushed the phone back into her hands and folded his arms. "There, it's ringing now."

Sofia hastily put the speaker to her ear and waited for an answer. "_… Hallo? Yes, it's me. I'm at Yoh's…. Yes, can I spend the night? They--…. Oh… oh okay. Alright… alright, see you soon. Bye."_

Sofia covered the speaker and sighed, handing it to Ren, who promptly hung it up.

"No?"

"No."

"Did you expect a yes?"

"No."

Ren walked beside her, letting Sofia place her hand back on his shoulder. And once again they set off, only now it was back to the old En Inn.

"So why were you so cheerful?" He asked out of the blue.

"Was?"

"Why were you so cheerful to my being rude?"

"So you admit that you were being rude." Ren stiffened lightly but pushed it aside.

"Why were you so cheerful?" Sofia smiled.

"People being rude to me makes me feel normal." Ren gave her a funny look, though not actually facing her. She could tell he was confused, so continued. "Whenever someone sees me, they think 'Oh that poor girl. She's blind. Oh that poor thing.' And I hate that. And then they act all nice and mist."

Ren raised his eyebrows, smirking lightly. "So basically you don't like to be treated differently."

"Genau."

…

Author's Note: 'Ja' Means yes in German and 'Was?' later means what? 'Mist' means crap, 'Genau' means exactly. Mutter and Vatti are 'Mother and Father'.


	7. Doctor's Orders

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic so bleh.

Author's Note: This chapter takes place after the whole fight with Tao En. The night right after really before they leave for back home.

Author's Note2: Translations! 'Stoppen Sie zu schreien' means stop crying, there'll be another 'Was?' later on, which means 'what?'.

"Oww! Man." Horohoro hissed between his teeth. His shirt was off and his chest was covered in bruises and cuts. His legs were no better.

According to Sofia, who was the doctor of the evening, he'd sprained his ankle and it was now in wrapping.

"Stoppen Sie zu schreien." Sofia muttered, spreading out some alcohol on one particularly deep cut.

"What'd you say?" Horohoro asked. "Dude, what'd she say?" He looked up, apparently scared that she would be insulting him in a different language. Yoh laughed, having already been taken care of, along with Ryu.

"I haven't a clue." Horohoro pouted and winced again as she started on a new cut.

"Oh stop it. Be happy I don't have to stitch anything." The snowboarder immediately shivered at the thought. Kororo had her hands over her mouth, worried about her master being in such pain.

"When are you gonna start bandaging yourself?" Manta asked, sitting on one of the beds with a fortune cookie from dinner. Sofia talked without even looking up.

"I already did in the bathroom." She said bluntly, pulling out a bag of ice for Horohoro.

"No way! I didn't hear you make a peep in there." The blue-haired teen protested, taking the bag of ice and placing it on a bruise.

"You mean you didn't hear me whining about fixing up some cuts? That's because I didn't." She smiled and started capping the alcohol. "Where's Ren? I still have to work on him."

"Uh," Yoh stood up and went over to the window. "There he is. On the next floor by the balcony." Yoh added the last part for Sofia's sake. "Want me to take you down?"

Sofia shook her head while closing her medical suitcase. "It's okay, Frankensteiny'll take me to him." She then kneeled to the dog made of bones and oversoul. "_Won't you Frankensteiny?"_

The dog barked in compliance and nuzzled her neck. Sofia smiled and stood up, picking up her walking stick and following her pet out.

…

Ren stood outside on the balcony, just like Yoh had said. He still wore his battle rags. The pants that had been tied up above his calves and his shoes were all that covered him, despite the cold October night.

Though of course his mind was too busy to be worrying about silly things like the temperature. Today had been... a long one.

Life would be different now. A lot different. Without his father to boss him around or use him as a pawn, he was free to make his own choices. To live the life he wanted.

And he wanted a happy life.

One without hatred and the belief that everyone was an enemy. Ren had friends to back him up. Good ones at that. And he would work hard to make sure his life lasted the way it was. Him and his sister would.

"Ren?" He glanced over his shoulder, hearing the padding of feet and the familiar tapping of a walking stick on the ground. He looked down and saw Sofia had used her bone dog to find him.

"What is it?" He asked sharply, looking back out to the desolate scenery of the surrounding mountains. He heard her come a little closer.

"I need to bandage up your wounds." She said, coming up beside him.

"I'm fine."

"I'm blind Ren, not deaf. I heard all the hits you took in the battle." Sofia remarked going over to the bench near the railing and putting down her suitcase, as if that had settled it.

"I don't need any bandaging." He said, more firmly this time. Ren refused to let others see his weakness... he supposed it was just a habit picked up from his training. Mind over matter, he would keep his body standing in pride even with both his legs broken. But Sofia was now opening up her suitcase.

"Nonsense. It's not going to take long anyway." Ren gripped the railing tightly. He certainly wouldn't let a girl see his body show his pain.

"Look I'll do it myself then." Sofia raised her eyebrows lightly with a confident smile.

"Then you admit you need to be bandaged." Ren blinked before taking in a deep breath, looking off to the mountains. "Besides, I have more medical training than all you boys put together."

"I just want to be alone." Sofia looked up at him through her sunglasses. Despite the fact she couldn't see him... it was an odd feeling. He didn't like it. He suddenly felt rather vulnerable to her. She rose to her feet, still facing him.

"Please Ren?" He looked back up at her and saw her expression was one of pleading. She was asking him now. She was asking him to let her take care of him. Why was she so hung up on healing him?

He let out an annoyed sighed and sat over on the bench. "Fine." Sofia smiled and sat with him. Obviously happy with her victory. "Stubborn German..."

"Thank you Ren." She dragged her fingers along the contents of her suitcase, picking up a bottled liquid. She traced her fingertips along the label, which he saw was in brail, and she dabbed it on a cloth she'd had in her pocket. "Okay, where are your wounds?"

Ren hmphed. "You're the medical expert here, you figure it out." Sofia laughed with a shake of her head.

"Fine, fine."

She used her free hand to touch his chest, running it over his bare skin, making Ren shiver. Thanks to her, he suddenly noticed the cold October air.

But she continued. Even took her glove off. Ren couldn't even try to focus on his surroundings or on his thoughts like his meditation had taught him to, his mind was all on how Sofia treated him. Gingerly and with care. Something he wasn't exactly used to. It didn't take her long to find a deep slash along the side of his mid section.

"You're lucky, any deeper and that blow could've broken those ribs." Sofia commented, starting to dab the cloth on his wound. She sounded as if she'd done this for a hobby.

As soon as the liquid touched his blood, Ren felt like he could feel every individual bacteria dying. But all he let out was a wince. It was all about mind over matter. Keeping weakness and the pain inside. And to his surprise, Sofia winced with him. When she found another cut on his arm and tended to that, his lip twitched. And Sofia, in the exact same fashion, did as well.

"What are you doing?" Sofia looked up at Ren's bewildered expression.

"Was?"

"Have you treated your own wounds yet?" Ren asked. Though it actually could have been one of concern, Ren managed to make it sound accusing.

"Of course I have. I did before I started working on any of you boys."

"You're lying I can see you flinch in pain!"

Sofia gave a light shrug, picking up a container with some gauze in it. "I don't know what you're talking about Ren. Maybe you got hit on the head a few times."

Ren threw her a scorn, folding his arms. "My head is fine! If you wish to work on me then you'll treat yourself first!" Sofia, though he couldn't see, rolled her eyes with a scoff.

She rolled up the sleeve to her outfit and showed off bruising with bandaging wrapped around her wrist and her upper arm. "See? You're hallucinating."

And with that, she began tending to other cuts around his mid section. Ren held up his arms, looking off to the side. He'd wince a little or stiffen up whenever stung by the alcohol, but every time he did, Sofia seemed to slow down the pace or lighten her rubbing.

"Let me see your wrist." Ren was snapped out of his thoughts once more, finding quite a bit of his stomach wrapped in bandages.

"What for?"

"Just let me see it." She held out her hand in demand, giving him a stern but calm expression. Ren gave her his left wrist and she poked and prodded certain parts. After a minute or so, she demanded the other wrist.

Ren twitched as she began prodding his right hand. Sofia twitched just after, and in almost the same fashion. She then sighed.

"You've sprained your wrist." She said pulling out some clean wrapping to use. Ren rolled his eyes.

"It's fine."

"I'll decide that. You best give that hand a rest." He hated how superior she tried to make herself sound. Sofia stretched out the wrapping at two arms' length before cutting it. Ren was about to take it and wrap his hand himself, but instead she took his hand and wrapped it. "Just stay still."

"Yes, because it'd be quite a bother if I managed an escape." He said, a little annoyed with how long this was taking. Sofia grinned before clipping the wrapping.

"There, all done. Anything wrong with your legs? Or are going to continue to be stubborn and just have me do a cavity search?" Ren's eyes widened lightly. Mostly because he really thought she was serious. Sofia took his silence as a stun and laughed. "I'm kidding! It's a joke, it's a joke."

Ren let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "It wasn't funny." But apparently his protest only made her laugh more.

"O-of course not. Ha-my mistake." She waved her hand to dismiss the subject and calmed herself down. "Now IS there anything wrong with your legs."

He looked down and saw nothing more than some bruising.

"They're fine."

"You're lying." He gave her an incredulous look.

"Excuse you?"

"What's wrong with your legs?" He flexed his free hand in frustration.

"Nothing! Just some bumps." But of course, that made Sofia reach back into her suitcase.

"Put ice on those or they'll swell."

"Do you always baby your patients like this?"

"Only the stubborn ones."


	8. Happy Halloween

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari.

Author's Note: 'Fluch' means damn.

Ren scratched at his stomach, shifting lightly to try and get comfortable. His side was stiff with the gauze around his mid-section. But he never complained about the stiffness. Not only because he'd held up the habit of refusing that things bothered him... but also because it made him think of Sofia.

It'd been a few days since his battle with his Father. And so far he was feeling pretty good. Tomorrow he'd be hosting a Halloween party at the Tao mansion and had been in contact with Yoh quite a bit. Next week they'd all be leaving for the Patch Village. And though Ren hadn't said anything when hearing how Sofia wouldn't be able to be flying with them there, he was... disappointed.

She wasn't a participant in the tournament. Even if she was related to her father, rules said she couldn't even come to the Patch Village. He had no idea what she'd be doing or where she would be going without her Father.

He WOULD have asked, but the almighty Tao Ren didn't want to act like he cared by asking too many questions. Not knowing meant not caring.

Despite knowing that he wanted a different life from his Father, having friends and finally relaxing a little, he still felt odd to be admitting such things as... a crush.

He supposed that was just the kind of person he was now.

It was the old Tao habit that still seemed to be Ren's most obvious quality. A crush meant fond feelings, fond feelings meant weakness, weakness meant lack of strength. And the last thing Ren wanted was a lack of strength.

He'd let himself admit a few things about Sofia. Okay, sure. She was pretty. He could notice that about any girl. She was a decent fighter, yes that he'd discovered during his Father's battle. Big deal. And fine, she was intelligent. He'd actually enjoyed himself talking with her when she treated his wounds.

But she was stubborn, bratty, and all around weird. He knew those as well.

And yet Ren found himself thinking of her... fondly... a lot. More often then he liked. Bason had been concerned of his master's sudden change in activity. He was much quieter, saying he was just 'trying to get his thoughts organized'. And was training a lot more frequently.

But of course Ren couldn't tell Bason why. He couldn't tell anyone why.

The fact was he was quiet only more and more because he kept thinking that he couldn't have such thoughts about Sofia. And he fought and trained more often because when he DID have those thoughts of Sofia, he felt like he had a weakness. And would train to prove he was not weak.

Ren sighed, turning a corner on the street. It annoyed him to no end with his stupid 'crush'. Why couldn't he just shut it off? Why couldn't he just walk away from the feelings? They were insignificant and stupid!

He looked up and saw he was passing by Funbari Hill again. He'd wanted the walk to help clear his mind.

As Ren looked closer at the graveyard, he noticed someone strolling up the path. He came to a complete stop to get a better look.

'Just some mourner.' He thought absently. But he squinted his cat-like eyes for a better look and saw it was definitely no mourner.

It was a girl, from what he could see, with a top hat, blonde hair and dark clothing.

Ren didn't know why he did it. He still doesn't. But as soon as he realized who was walking up the hill, turned around and sprinted towards the path.

…

Sofia dragged her walking stick along the grass, making sure there was a large free space without any tombstones blocking the way. She discovered that the only place with enough blank grass was underneath the oak tree.

She smiled and let her backpack fall from her shoulders. Sofia dropped to a crouch and pulled out a patched- up blue, wrapped up blanket. She laid it out and smoothed out the edges.

Sofia took off her shoes and lied down on the blanket, smiling a little. She liked it up here. It was quiet and high up from the noisy traffic and crowds of people. Yoh had recommended it to her, saying he always went up for star gazing or just plain hanging out with Manta and Amidamaru.

Hana was visiting the Inn for the evening, leaving the blonde all to herself.

Unfortunately, at that moment Sofia heard the padding of feet coming up the path.

"Fluch." She cursed at her time being trespassed by another. She sat up and felt around for her backpack, wanting to pull out the book she wanted to read.

"Sofia!" Sofia looked up, surprised to hear the visitor to know her name. But a second later recognized the voice to be Ren's.

"Ren?" She questioned, getting to her feet. The Chinese teenager came up to the tree, panting a little for running up the whole path. "What're you doing here?"

Ren calmed his breathing down and threw a glare her way. "I was going to ask you the same thing." His glare soon softened though.

Damn. She was pretty. More and more then he wanted to admit. Her top hat was still on and she had her hair down, but pulled behind her ears. She wore a large black sweater with some gray track shorts. And black and white stockings that went above even where the shorts reached.

"I-I came here to read." Her sentence was rushed, though Ren couldn't tell why she seemed nervous. Her cheeks were a little red and she was looking down from him. Ren's scorn returned.

"In a graveyard? Honestly, you do hold up to the gothic stereotype." Sofia looked up, a little confused but smiled after a few seconds.

"Well just call me chez goth…. Why are you here Ren?" Ren gulped down, trying to think of an answer. But he really didn't know himself. Why WAS he here? Had just came up from the busy road's traffic just to talk to her? Just to see her?

But of course he could tell her no such thing. What could he say, what could he say!

"I--I wanted you to help with my Halloween party." He blurted out, the idea just popping into his head. Sofia raised her eyebrows, a little surprised and put off.

"... That's why you came up here?"

"Yes."

"... Oh. Uhm, what did you want me to help with?" She asked slowly, Ren was sure she didn't believe him but at least she was playing along with it.

"Well, you're a necromancer. I thought some living skeletons would... would make it more festive."

"… You want me to have skeletons walking about to make your party more festive?" It was more statement then question. And Ren didn't like her tone. She seemed almost... disgusted at the thought. But Ren kept his cool exterior. His tough act. He wouldn't expose Sofia to any other feelings.

"Walking around, serving food, things like that. Instead of the employees doing I thought it might be fun to have the walking dead do it."

For the first time Ren had seen, Sofia glared. Even in the fight against Ren's father when helping, she had never glared or showed aggression. But here she was, eyebrows furrowed in anger. She turned her head away from him.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's not a parlor trick Ren. Get someone else who happens to lack respect for the dead."

Ren retaliated the only way he knew. Rudely.

"Respect for the dead? They're DEAD, their spirits maybe but their bodies are just bodies. Who cares if they're put to good use!"

"And good use is serving up cocktail drinks and taking people's coats!" She yelled back. Ren stiffened. He hated her being mad at him. And he certainly hated yelling at her the way he was.

But it was like a defense mechanism for him.

"Well excuse me for thinking up something entertaining! I didn't realize bone marrow could be so SENSITIVE!"

'_Dammit! Don't hate me, I don't mean it. Dammit, I'm sorry_.'

Sofia suddenly had a very sad expression. She looked at him once more, as if trying to figure something out. She took in a deep breath and folded arms. And in a much calmer and quieter voice, said,

"Ren just don't make me do it. Please." Ren was surprised. Had he hurt her feelings? Was she upset?

"Sofia..." He hesitated. She raised her eyebrows again, looking almost hopeful. Ren stopped himself before he said anything too suspicious. "Well you know when you're supposed to arrive then."

After that, he slunk off down the path of the graveyard, his fists balled up a little.

Sofia let out a deep breath before sinking to her knees on the blanket.

'_Ren...'_

…

Amidamaru, Yoh and Manta walked up to the hotel where Sofia and Faust were staying. Only they certainly weren't looking like themselves. Manta was dressed as a wizard, with dark blue robes and little yellow stars all over him. Yoh himself was decked out in armor as a samurai with gray and red robes, his hair tied up high. Portraying himself as his guardian ghost.

The samurai ghost had almost been moved to tears at the sight.

It was Halloween Night and Horohoro, Ryu and Tokagero were waiting for them in the taxi van. The night of nights for Shamans all around the world.

Yoh opened up the door and saw Sofia sitting on a bench, though it took him a few seconds to recognize her.

Later on she told them she was a Lolita goth. Apparently a type of fashion where they wore very gothic types of dresses with heavy makeup.

She wore a black dress with puffed up sleeves, cuffed at her elbow. With a square-necked collar and black lace framing her neck. The dress puffed out around the hip with frills and lace around the trim as well.

Sofia was wearing her top hat still, with her hair down. Sunglasses still covered her eyes. But painted under the sunglasses was what looked like black blood leaking from her eyes. As far as they knew it was only face paint.

She heard the two coming in and looked up. "Hallo?" The pretend wizard and samurai smiled.

"Hey Sofia." Manta greeted. Then added, "Happy Halloween." Sofia smiled and got to her feet.

"Happy Halloween. What are you two dressed as?" She asked, being led back to the van.

"I'm a samurai." Yoh said, though hearing Amidamaru sniff in pride. Yoh then nodded to Manta. "And Manta's a wizard."

"Oooh, I'm scared." She teased. The door to the van was opened from the inside and there sat Horohoro; only it wasn't him. Sort of. It was Horohoro dressed as a ghost with a long white sheet.

"Hey Sofia." He greeted, tucking in his legs so there was enough room for them to get in.

"Hi Horohoro. What are you dressed as?" The question of the night. She wanted to know what everyone was dressed up as, later on even asking for details.

"Uh." He seemed embarrassed about his costume. "I-I'm a ghost." But Sofia gushed.

"Aww how cute!" Though it wasn't noticeable, Horohoro's cheeks pinkened a little.

"I'm starving." Manta said, patting his stomach a little. "Bet there's gonna be a huge buffet there!" The talk of food suddenly made the snowboarder's stomach rumble.

"Man don't talk about food! I'm hungry too."

"Then let us talk of something else!" Ryu piped up. He was dressed as a samurai as well, to show how loyal he was to his master Yoh. Tokagero had laughed.

"Like what?"

"Like Jun!" Ryu's eyes suddenly formed into pink hearts. Tokagero groaned in irritation. "And how I will dance the dance of love with her tonight!" Yoh just laughed, giving a skeptic look.

"Yeah? Good luck getting past Ren." Ryu raised an eyebrow then glared.

"That short-pants can try anything he wants. I WILL have Jun!"

…

Another ten minutes of chatting, jokes and arguments and the taxi van finally pulled up to the Tao estate. The group piled out of the vehicle, Yoh paid him and they looked up.

The Tao family had no lack of Halloween spirit it seemed. The place was crawling with ghosts, cobwebs meters high hung from windows to balconies. Bats flew here and there, perching on top of the building, truly giving it an eerie look. Even an oddly colored fog hung about the ground to add to the effect.

They walked inside to an even scarier scene. The whole front lobby was covered in orange and black colors, decorated to suit the holiday. Actual skeletons (motionless to Sofia's relief) hung here and there. She was told however they were put up almost everywhere, making her think that Ren had most likely done that on purpose.

In front of the door was a large staircase, in which Ren was just descending.

The Chinese teenager was dressed with a large cape, black on the outside and red velvet interior. Underneath he wore a very formal black and white tuxedo. But instead of a bowtie he had a (thankfully) fake bat. His face painted pale and sticking out from the corners of his lips were fangs. Topping off the whole Dracula outfit.

"Well I see you all made it then." He then turned his eyes on Horohoro and gave him an incredulous look. "And just what the hell are you?"

Horohoro rolled his eyes from beneath the sheet. "I'm a ghost! Duh." He held up his arms a little to show off the white fabric. Ren narrowed his eyes.

"Oh yes. My mistake." Horohoro sweatdropped; embarrassed. Sofia pouted and patted him on the back.

"Aww poor Horohoro. Don't worry, I think it's a great costume." She said. Ren saw her come out of the group to comfort the ghost and gulped down hard.

Damn... she was pretty.

"Thanks."

Sofia looked up at Ren and smiled. He came down the steps with a scorn.

"And just what are you? THAT'S supposed to scare people?" He said, in his familiar accusing tone. But her smile didn't fade, instead it grew mischievous.

"What?" You don't like it?" She asked, smoothing out some of the ruffles. Ren gritted his teeth.

"No actually I think you look rid--" Unfortunately he was interrupted by a hand over his mouth. Yoh grinned sheepishly and slung an arm over Ren's shoulder, reaching to mask the rest of his sentence with his palm.

"Hey Horohoro didn't you say you were really hungry?"

Horohoro suddenly bounced a little then nodded. "Hey yeah! Let's go already!"

And that seemed to settle Ren's argument right there. He led them all into the ballroom, where all the guests seemed to be having the time of their lives/after lives.

There was a buffet set up off to the sidewall, with large windows, giving everyone an amazing view of the night sky and a full moon. At the far side of the ballroom was an actual band, but with ghosts playing the instruments. The wall closest to the group was where round, black covered tables were set up to sit six people. And they faced a balcony with a wall that had several arc entrances crawling with spirits and creatively dressed people.

In the middle of the room was one large dance floor, most of the people there were already swaying with the music.

There were oohs and ahhs when they looked up at the ceiling to see it was painted black with skeletons and pumpkins all over.

"Man your family sure knows how to throw a Halloween party!" Horohoro said, bedazzled like the rest.

"Well then, stop gawking and sit down." Ren barked guiding them to an empty table. They sat down and as soon as they did, they picked up their plates and went to the buffet.

"Here, I'll go get food for you." Yoh offered taking Sofia's plate. She smiled with a cheery nod.

"Thank you." So she sat back down and tucked underneath the table. As Ren got in line for the buffet as well, he couldn't help but take brief glances at her.

"Happy Halloween Ren." Yoh said, coming up from behind. Ren brought his gaze quickly back to the food and nodded in greeting.

"Happy Halloween."

"Sofia looks good tonight, don't you think?" He asked suggestively, starting to pick out different servings for the two plates he was bringing by. Ren bit the inside of his cheek.

"She looks ridiculous."

Yoh raised his eyebrows in mild, most likely fake, surprise. "You think so, huh?"

"I know so. Unlike her I can actually see how stupid she looks." Yoh shrugged.

"You sure don't look at her like she looks stupid." Ren stiffened lightly, forgetting to put food onto his plate.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well I've just seen you looking at her. And you don't look at her like she looks stupid. You look at her like she looks good." Yoh then leaned in. "Really good."

As soon as the pretend samurai had filled both plates, he walked over back to the table and gave Sofia her plate. Ren let out a deep breath when he did.

Tonight would be a long one.


	9. Bitter Sweet Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic.

Author: Had to go through so much bull for this chapter XP Well, ta da!

The night grew old and yet the party seemed to have just begun. Though the music was loud, everyone managed a proper conversation without yelling to hear themselves and others during dinner. Horohoro stuffed himself silly with food (as if thinking it would last him until next time he'd eat there), Ryu looked this way and that for Tao Jun (no luck), Yoh and Manta talked about all the crazy decorations and costumes people were wearing (three people they could've sworn were actual werewolves), Sofia soaked in all of the good feelings around her (because the majority of people there really were having a great time).

However, Ren was quite anti-social during dinner (he certainly had good reason). Yoh glanced over at Ren and pouted. He'd barely touched his food and was pretty much ignoring Sofia's presence. The pretend samurai sighed. He'd hinted to Ren that he knew about his crush so that he might just tell her outright. But it looked as if Yoh had just made it worse. Maybe if he'd left him alone, Ren would have at least talked to Sofia how he usually did. Rudely. Sofia seemed to like it when he did for reasons even Yoh was unsure about.

He tapped a finger to his chin while he thought. Yoh couldn't start regretting actions of before. He needed to think of something else.'_He just needs a push in the right direction_.'Yoh wiped his mouth of the ramen he'd been slurping and got to his feet. "Be right back Manta."

"Bathroom break?" The pretend wizard asked, picking up an egg roll.

"Nope." Yoh grinned. "I'm playing matchmaker." Amidamaru and Manta gave him an incredulous look while watching him walk over to Sofia. "Sofia?" The blonde looked up from her food. "You wanna dance?" She paused for a second, turning to face him. She furrowed her brows and gave a quick turn to Ren.

Sofia soon smiled with a nod, apparently dismissing it or having discovered the catch. "I'd love to." She had the handle cord to her walking stick around her wrist and Yoh led her into the dance floor. Ren noticed the amount of movement from Sofia's seat and looked up, a little surprised to see Yoh walking her out to the crowd for a dance. He glared and looked down at his untouched food.

"He's upset." Sofia said, placing her hands on Yoh's shoulders. He raised an eyebrow; surprised Sofia had caught onto his plan so quickly. But that didn't explain how she had picked up Ren's mood. It only added to the girl's strange quirks. That was when it hit Yoh, how she seemed to know how people felt, and even project it. It made sense. There was also the fact that Sofia was trying to suppress a glare. He wrapped his arms around her waist with a nod.

"Yeah, almost murderous on my part." She laughed.

"Not surprising." Yoh put his head beside hers, resting his chin on her shoulder. Though it may have looked like a sign of affection, he was actually trying to get a better view of Ren. "Uh oh." He quipped. Sofia raised her head a little.

"Was?"

"He's leaving."

"He's leaving?" She repeated, turning a little trying to hear Ren moving. Though failed as the music had raised its own volume. Ren was marching out to the balcony railing connected to the ballroom.

"He's going to the porch. He's not really going anywhere." Yoh explained, a little relieved to see that Ren had indeed stopped at the posts. Merely gazing outside. Sofia suddenly took on a worried look.

"Ohh, he's- he's really upset. I-I should go talk to him." Yoh gave a nod and led her to the arches just a few meters off from Ren.

"Just go straight, and if anything happens just signal over. Okay?" She nodded and aimed herself in the general direction.

"I will, thank you."

Ren leaned down on the railing along the edge of the balcony. He'd had enough of being in there. Yoh knowing was bad enough. But Yoh trying to interfere with such things as Ren's affections for someone was the last straw. His weakness had been revealed.

"Ren?" The vampire froze at the sound of his name. The next thing he heard was the familiar tapping of Sofia's walking stick. She was right behind him.

"What is it?" He asked, his tone sharp. She came up beside him, resting her hands on the ledge, keeping her balance. He turned his head away, certainly not ready to look at her again after what had happened.

Sofia paused, not sure of how or even what to say. Did she come outright or try to do it slow? "Well... well there's something you should know."

"What is it?" He repeated, exterior cold but nervous on the inside. Sofia let out a deep breath.

"I already knew Ren." He knew what she meant, despite her vague explanation. He turned and saw her face, though he knew he shouldn't. It only made him feel more awkward. She looked concerned. Her face was warm from everything going on that her cheeks were tinged red. Hair hanging down to frame her face and lips pursed together in contemplation. The Chinese shaman looked back down from the balcony with a scorn.

"You're an empath, aren't you?"

"Was?" She hesitated, stretching out for something to say. "No—no I just."

"Oh don't treat me like an idiot!" He snapped, still glowering down at the grounds below. "I may not BE an empath but I sure as Hell know when people are lying."

"Okay, you know what?" Sofia threw up her hands in frustration. "YES, I am an empath! That's why I KNOW I make you feel like you have a weakness. And that makes you angry so that's why you got so defensive yesterday."

"So why are you here!" He made a full turn to yell to her face. "Are you here to 'let me down easy', are you going to tell me we're going to be 'just friends' or maybe you're here to just rub it in my face!"

"None of the above!" She yelled back.

"Well then WHY? WHY are you HERE!"

"I'm here to tell you that you're an ass and I like you!"

Ren went to shout back, until he actually realized what she'd said. His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. Sofia sighed, putting up a grim smile.

"Beyond all reason, I actually like you too, Ren." Her tone was sad, despite the smile. "But if you STILL feel angry about me being a weakness, then I'll leave you alone. We'll go back to just being friends. Barely that."

They stood there with nothing but the background chatter and music. Despite their rather loud argument, no one was really aware of what was going on with the Tao boy or the blind girl. Though Yoh made a good point of keeping an eye on the two.

Ren dipped his head down, his eyes looking up at her from beneath his dark bangs. He had an ashamed look to him.

"You're the empath, you know the answer." He muttered. Sofia started forward, as if trying to figure out something in her head. His own ashamed expression came to her face before dissipating into a thoughtful smile.

"Really?" She asked, flushing red.

"Shut up." Ren glared off to the side and Sofia giggled.

"Aw-"

"Shut up!" She started laughing and fingered at the handle to her walking stick. Ren looked from the balcony, to Sofia, then back to the balcony, then her again. She gave a shrug, as if she already knew what he wanted to say. Despite it, he spoke. "What now?"

Sofia pursed her lips together in contemplation. "Do you... want to dance?" Ren suddenly remembered that there was music playing and that people were actually dancing to it. He glared.

"No." She pouted.

"Nonsense, let's dance."

"We're not dancing! It's stupid."

"You sound like you're four."

"You sound like you've probably made the biggest mistake of your life." Ren folded his arms. Sofia smiled and walked closer.

"Oh it's two minutes of your life, Ren." He rolled his eyes, thought also remember she wouldn't be able to see it.

"I'm NOT dancing. Go dance with Yoh! You liked it with him!" Sofia arched her brows.

"Are we jealous?"

"We are not! We just don't like dancing!"

"Don't make me MAKE you dance, Ren." She said with a mock threatening tone to her voice. He laughed.

"And just what could YOU do?" Sofia smiled wickedly and leaned up to him, closing in only a good few inches from his face.

"I could do MANY things." Ren's jaw tightened and a large, irritated sigh came out.

"Fine! If it'll make you shut up!" 


	10. Collide

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor do I own any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic. I do now own the song 'You And I Collide' Howie Day owns that song. I just like it.

Author: Over lots of contemplation, and long hours on the mp3 player, Collide is offically the theme I want to give Sofia and Ren. When you read this chapter, please listen to the song while doing so.

Horohoro stretched out his arms with a yawn, pulling over the ghost costume once more. Now that his belly was full, he could hide under the white sheet.  
"Man, I gotta come here more often." He regarded to Ryu. The old gangster sighed softly, having only eaten a few portions of his meal.

"Jun must not be coming... how unfortunate. I would have loved to dance the dance of love with her." Horohoro rolled his eyes wordlessly in reply. At that time the musical ghosts started up a new song. Causing the sound of guitar to play in the background

"Dude, enough about Jun. Sure she's pretty but she's Ren's sister. That's gotta say SOMETHING about her." Ryu was about to shoot back a remark but was distracted by something else. Soon violins started up, including the lead singer

'The dawn is breaking... A light shining through.'

"Speaking of Ren... is that him with Sofia?" Horohoro sat up straight to see properly.

The vampire and lolita goth were indeed together, walking out to the dance floor to the rest of the crowd. Horohoro's eyes widened. "Hey that is them... I didn't think Ren was into dancing."

'And I'm tangled up in you.' The drum started up a beat and the following 'Doo, doo doo' from the backup singers.

"Hmm, maybe he isn't." Yoh said, coming up with Manta behind the two. Ryu and Horohoro looked up at him.

"What do you mean master Yoh?" The pretend samurai grinned with a laugh.

"I'd tell you, but I think Ren would go vampire on me if I did."

Ren himself was doing the best he could to stay calm. He didn't dance, but he was about to. He didn't like girls, but liked Sofia. He didn't dance WITH girls (that including ones he liked), but he was about to do that too.

'I worry that I won't see your face... light up again.'

He could feel stares upon him, even light whispered conversations. His face was beet red under neath the pale powder make up. Luckily, it wasn't as noticeable as him and Sofia together. Oh who was he kidding? Him and ANYONE together was still surprising to people. His hands shook.

Was this the right thing to do?

By admitting his... affections, he'd basically torn down his reputation to shreds. He was no longer Tao Ren the monster. He was Tao Ren the sensitive. Someone, the latter title just didn't appeal as much.

'Even the best fall down sometime... even the wrong words seem to rhyme.'

Ren began to regret this entire night. He had not only admitted his weakness (though without much choice), he'd also let it get the better of him. Sofia had managed to get Tao Ren the monster to actually DANCE. How had he gone so soft in such a short time?

"Ren?" The dark-haired teen looked up with a scowl. She was the source of his trouble! The source of his weakness and sensitivity. And here she was, just casually calling his name? How did she have such nerve?

Sofia smiled gently. "Just so you know, I'm about as clueless as you are."

Ren's glare faltered. Oh right, that was how.

She was about to place her arms on his shoulders, but was changed to a different position. The only way Ren knew how to dance. He grasped her right hand and held her back. Sofia adjusted and held her arm on his bicep, covered by the smooth material of his tuxedo

'I somehow find... you can I collide.' The 'doo doo doo' started up again.

"You dance like they do in fairy tales, Ren." She said with a smile. Ren remained silent, thinking that she was making fun of him for it. Sofia's hand tightened around his and she edged a little closer as they began to sway to the music. "I like it."

Ren looked up and saw her with her ever present smile. He wanted to say something, just so he wouldn't look like a fool. He didn't want to be some gawking idiot to her.

'I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind...! Even the best fall down sometimes...'

"What I said," Sofia raised an eyebrow, obviously listening."... about your costume. It wasn't true... you look good tonight." It was slow but at least he'd said something.

The blonde nodded, biting her lowerlip to stiffle a giggle. "I know. I'm sure you look handsome yourself." Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek to say something else. He needed to control himself.

'Out of the back you fall in time... I somehow find... you and I collide.' The drums and back drop voices faded.

"However, these sunglasses." He took the hand that was holding her hand away and raised it to her face. "Do ruin the effect slightly."

"Hunh?" Before she knew it, Ren had taken away your sunglasses. Her eyes' irises were a pale, glassy blue, without pupils. Now the black makeup could be seen poperly, done just beneath her eyelid.

'I lost my place... I'm close behind.' The beat grew again with the lead singer's voice.

Sofia blinked a couple times, caught off guard. "What are you doing with my sunglasses?" Ren just smirked, pocketing them.

"Oh you'll get them later, don't worry. I don't see why you wear them all the time though. Your eyes look perfectly fine." Sofia gave a sheepish grin.

'Even the best fall down sometime. Even the wrong words seem to rhyme.'

"Except of course for the fact I can't see out of them." Ren rolled his eyes, still smiling with sly intentions.

"Well don't whine about it, honestly." She laughed and shook her head.

"Sorry, silly of me." Ren slid his hand down to her hip and found Sofia leaning her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. The pretend vampire let out a deep breath, relaxing his muscles a little. He let his chin fall on her shoulder, still moving with the slow beat of the music.

'You finally find... you and I collide.'

"How long can you stay?" He asked after a little while. Sofia sighed turning her head to face him.

"Not long. In fact, I should be going really soon." She pouted, opening her eyes to him. "You know I don't want to, right?" He nodded, nudging her shoulder as he did so. A grunt in reply.

'You finally find... you and I collide.'

The song ended, though Ren cursed aloud for it doing so. Sofia lifted her head, signalling he should do the same from her shoulder.

"Goodnight Ren. Happy Halloween." She held his head and kissed both cheeks on his face, leaving a bit of a black lip mark, though he didn't care much.

"Goodnight." He led her back to the table, where everyone fell silent. Ren glared, daring any one of them to say something smart or rude while he was around. But of course, no one did.

"You leaving already Sofia?" Yoh asked, noticing she was gathering up her coat. She nodded.

"Ja, I could only stay an hour. I'll talk to you another time." She waved lightly and Ren guided her out, keeping his arm around her hip. "Where's your phone?"

"Closest one is in the lobby." He replied, then looked up. "What do you need it for?"

"To call a cab." She said. But Ren stopped and put her in a different direction, the door.

"Nonsense, I'll have one of my drivers take you back to the hotel." Sofia raised her eyebrows.

"It's okay Ren, you don't have to."

"I thought you were supposed to shut up after the dance." She laughed. Ren smiled. The others cat-called and whistled.


	11. Air Love Sickness

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei-sama owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic and the plot. 

Author's Note: Translation notes! 'seien Sie ruhig' means 'be quiet'. 'Wenig' means 'little'. 'schläfrig' means 'sleepy'. The extension I did in ruhig was just Sofia moaning. Yay for actually writing out this chapter! I had to search for translation notes for the chapter that this frames in. And Yay for keeping deadlines!

"Well... 'least we know WHY it's called Pache Plane Enormous." Yoh said, almost in too good of a mood. HoroHoro rolled his eyes.

"That's kind of obvious."

Ryu, Ren, Yoh and HoroHoro stood with the masses of shamans at the Air Base. All of them waiting to board the large and... well... enormous plane before them. The gleaming metal shone brightly in the sun's reflection. Goldva's announcement had just finished, leaving the crowd buzzing with anticipation. Everyone that filled the Air base was in a hurry for the next round of the Shaman tournament. People of all sizes and shapes bustled onto the stairs that descended from the plane. Yoh's group only one of hundreds waiting to get on.

"I can't wait! This is taking too long!" Ryu's fists clenched lightly in impatience. Though his face held pride accomplishment. He (and everyone else) hadn't thought he'd make it this far. Ren folded his arms, glaring lightly.

"Calm down, you think the rest of us aren't anxious?"

"Meh, we'll get there when we get there." Yoh said, finally grabbing hold of the bars that framed the staircase. Ryu sighed. Another rolled of the eyes from the snowboarder.

"Master Yoh is so calm! I should try to model his image!"

"If that means 'shut up' I'm all for it."

The group boarded the plane amongst the pushing and shoving of other contestants. The seats all packed in groups along the isles. Officiants here and there helped guide on passengers, some even fighting amongst themselves. Most of the shaman were already in and it proved hard to actually find an empty seat, let alone enough for the group to sit together. Eventually, after making it to the back of the plane, they found a few groups of seats still empty and waiting.

Two minutes later, gone and occupied. HoroHoro plopped down with a rather sullen expression over his face. Dropping his bag on the floor, he folded his arms huffily and glared off to the side. "What's wrong with you?" Ryu asked as he sat down beside him. His large shoes propped up on the chair across from him. HoroHoro sighed irritably.

"It's that HAO guy!"

"Don't tell me you're STILL hung up about that?" Yoh asked. HoroHoro glared.

"I'm not hung up about it! It's just that damn attitude! Like he's so much better then us." The brunette across him blinked a few times with a shrug.

"So?" HoroHoro stared incredulously.

"SO? It's a BAD attitude!"

"Shut up. He obviously IS better then you so stop whining about it!"

"I'm not whining-- man my back hurts." HoroHoro shifted into the cushioned seats and sighed in resignation. The Ainu teenager gave up and settled into the pillow. "Whatever."

"Ahh, now THIS is what I like about flying." Yoh snuggled into the pillow behind him with a large grin. "Napping."

"Already?"

"What else am I gonna do?"

"That's pathetic..."

"Zzz."

"That's weird!"

Though most of them followed suit. The 12 hour flight didn't provide much entertainment. A few arguments here and there, though most of everyone's anxiety for the fight dissipated into snores. Ren squirmed out of his trenchcoat and scarf and rested against the back of the chair.

Sleep... yes. Sleep was nice. He slouched down with his head dipped down. Ren could hear HoroHoro mumbling incoherently in his sleep. Besides that, the back end of the plane was silent; the ride was smooth; and the chair was comfy.

It had been an awful long time since the Chinese teenager had relaxed like this. The plane ride provided a good chance to catch up on down time. His eye lids weighed down slowly, sight fading on him. He gave a mighty yawn and closed the lemon irises and let out a deep breath.

"_Uugh. I'll be... uh- right back, Vati_."

"_Alright, take Frankensteiny though_."

"_Fine, fine._"

Ren furrowed his brows. His hands tensed up. He knew those German voices, he was SURE he knew them. With what was left of his strength, he opened one eye and gazed out down the isle. Staggering down it was a small, thin form with shocking blonde hair. In front of her trotted a small dog made up of bones and spirit matter.

The Tao boy's other eye shot open. '_What the hell_?' He thought, mustering up his effort to finally sit up. Though his limbs weighed him down, Ren was stronger. He stood up and followed down the lonely isle, passing by either snoozing or bored shaman. Despite them, Ren sped up to a jog.

"Sofia!" He called, snapping some out of their trance-like states. The blonde, just stopping by one of the bathrooms looked up.

"Was?"

Ren came to a stop, his body still heavy with sleep. Sofia regarded him through squinted eyes. He stood there for a moment, just staring in confused amazement. Finally, the all familiar accusing tone of Tao Ren came. "What the hell?" Sofia flinched and held her head.

"Seien Sie ruhiiiig." She moaned. Ren arched a brow.

"What's wrong wi-- wait! Not my point! What are you doing here?" Sofia winced and shrugged.

"I'm here with my Va-" She made a heaving motion into her hand and felt around for the door to the bathroom. "Oh Gott." Ren's eyes widened and he quickly opened the door for her. Sofia disappeared with the flash of a closing door. Ren grimaced at the sounds of her... emptying her stomach. A few minutes later, she finally reappeared, her skin even paler.

"Better?"

"Wenig." She shrugged and slumped against the wall.

"Never been on a plane before?" She shook her head, which only caused her skin to tint into green.

"I don't bode well with crowds." Ren drew his head back in confusion.

"Clostrephobic." Another shake, this time slower.

"My empathy goes wild. I react so much to so many different people I end up getting sick." She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Ren nodded in acknowledgement, actually feeling rather stupid for not realizing the fact sooner.

"Isn't there anything you can do about it?" This time came a nod. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and let the breath out. She repeated the process twice more, until finally opening her eyes with a calm face. Ren knitted his brow.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm detaching myself... it helps keep my emotions and empathy under wraps." Ren's expression grew with interest.

"Oh really?" She nodded, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm not sure how long it'll last though. I'm not this used to being around so many people at once." That brought the purplenette's mind back to the real reason he was even talking to Sofia.

"Speaking of which, what the hell are you doing here?" He repeated. Sofia waved dismissively.

"I'm coming with the father. Nothing big."

"What about the rule about shaman participants only?"

"Well it's not like I could go back to Germany all alone." She reminded. "The officiants understood the situation and let me come with my Vati." Ren blinked a few times.

"They seemed so strict about the rules." Sofia shrugged, smiling gently to poke through the rather monotonous face.

"Well, I'm here aren't I?" Ren smirked back at her. He was happy to see her. Ren had been ready to set off to the second round, with the idea that Sofia would be staying behind. Then the thought hit him. Of course Sofia wouldn't be staying behind. She would have had to go back to Germany if she wasn't coming along. If he felt stupid before, he felt ridiculous now. How could he have not realized something so simple? "I missed you Ren."

The Tao teen shook from his thoughts with a few blinks. "Eh?" Sofia smiled back at him.

"I missed you. We haven't talked since the party." Ren's eyes shot to the floor and he was suddenly thankful for her detachment. He noted that she didn't look half as embarrassed as he felt. He sighed.

"It's only been a few days. Are you obsessed with me or something?" Even without empathy, Sofia could tell it was a joke. She giggled and nodded.

"I'm your personal fangirl. Isn't it obvious?"

They went on to talk about what the next round would be like. Ren explained the encounter with Hao. Sofia made a mock expression of shock at the idea of someone stronger then HoroHoro as Ren went on about the Ainu's ranting about the stranger. The both of them discovered that Frankensteiny took a quick liking to Ren. The skeleton dog jumped up to prop his front feet on Ren's chest and bark playfully. Both Frankensteiny and Sofia learned that Ren wasn't that big a fan of dogs.

The plane kept flying for another four hours before Ren faltered. He yawned and Sofia quickly mirrored it. "Schläfrig are we?" Ren glared through tired eyes.

"I was PLANNING to sleep until I saw you." Sofia giggled.

"I'm sorry I distract you."

Suddenly, the tv monitors in the plane flashed on. "To all of your present, thank you for having been patient on this trip."


	12. Free Falling

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or any of the characters from the original manga. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia and Hana Horutari. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own the rights and plot to this fanfic. Therefore, I win.

Author's Note: It's Tuesday and with all the excitement I forgot I have a chapter due soon XD. Silly me. Again, a lot of this is taken from a translation site for the manga framework. I'm working within the borders of what actually happens so I'm sorry I'm so unoriginal ;; goes off to burn herself for her sins Naah I'm kidding . Don't like? Don't read.

"Our plane is flying over the North American continent at 4000 feet. There are about 1200 km before our arrival to the Pache village." Ren looked up at one of the lit TV monitors, only to see the face of the leader of the Pache tribe, Goldva. Sofia blinked.

"Should we go back to our seats?" Ren furrowed his brow.

"Seems stupid. We're not even there yet, why would we have to sit down?" But no sooner had he said it had Faust started to wave to him with that utterly annoying face of his. That smile that was completely unaware of what was going on around it. Ren sweat dropped. "Though your father thinks differently." Sofia shrugged and kissed him on the cheek. Ren dipped his eyes away, still very aware of her father looking at them.

"I'll see you when we land then."

"Nn." He grunted with a nod. Ren guided her back to her seat. Meanwhile, Goldva's announcement was still going on through the speakers.

"From this moment on, you'll have to rejoin the village through your own means. Those who will have succeeded in rejoining the village within a period of three months will be admitted." The two teens, and the rest of the contestants, all gave funny looks. Just what was he implying? Ren helped Sofia to her seat and crossed back to Yoh and the others. HoroHoro nodded to him in greeting, still staring up at the one of the monitors. "You will have no complementary information. Those who go past this period will be disqualified." At that fact, Ren grabbed his belongings and began to put on his jacket. For some reason, he had a feeling he'd be needing them.

By then, protests of anger and confusion started up.

"What's he talking about!"

"They wouldn't dare."

"The Pache tribe are known for pulling stunts…."

"We're 4000 feet up! What's he planning!"

"Don't forget that the shaman fight is a test where spiritual strength means a great deal. From here on out, the first test will start." Goldva continued on. HoroHoro stared at the screen with a confused glare.

"What!"

"Your mission: to get to the Pache village within three months. Fasten your belongings against you. After this message, the over soul plane will disappear." The message ended. Suddenly, the floor and chairs slipped away. The walls disappeared and gave way into the blue sky and tufts of clouds. The view could've been amazing. Beautiful, even peaceful to look at.

If everyone weren't suddenly falling through the sky and clouds at 4000 feet in the air.

"What the HELL!" was the general reaction.

Ren's grip instantly went for his suitcase. The air pressure whipped through his hair and trench coat. The sky filled with cries of help and surprise. Yoh flew beside him, his hair matted down from the wind. In the corner of his eye, he could see HoroHoro freaking out. Ryu however, had fainted and was blissfully unaware of the current goings on.

Ren's eyes scanned the sky. Falling shaman left and right, some screaming in fright, some like him and instead taking in their surroundings. Hao floated past them with the fire spirit with a few taunts, then an invitation.

"You're welcome to get on." Though of course, stubborn HoroHoro nearly spat at the idea.

"Like hell!" The bluenette attempted to start descending by over soul. Ren turned away, already knowing the outcome of something so frivolous.

Ren twisted around, finally catching sight of Sofia with her Father. He was in his wheel chair and she had a hand firmly wrapped around one of the handle bars. Most people had found their way to the ground and land safely. One had a robot. Hao had his spirit of fire, all of his companions joining in. But Faust and Sofia... they didn't seem to be making any effort at ALL to stop falling.

They drew closer, soon enough Ren could hear Faust's trench coat rippling through the clouds.

"Look Eliza, it's the boy who broke your legs." Faust pointed over to Yoh with an amused look over his face. Ren turned to look at Sofia, who couldn't have appeared calmer while free falling.

"What are you doing!" He yelled. Sofia blinked.

"Ren?" Ren struggled for a second, then managed to move over and grab her other hand.

"How are you going to land!" He shouted. Faust looked up at him with that same unaffected smile.

"We're going to take the impact." Ren's eyes widened. "When we awake, we'll pull ourselves back together and go on from there. A simple process." He turned back to Sofia, who only shrugged. She kept her grip on her father's chair.

"You'll die!" Sofia shook her head for a no.

"I'm detached-- remember? I can't feel anything. That includes pain." Ren's hand tightened over hers, he shook his head.

"Land with us!" He blurted. He tried to tug her closer but an updraft of air nearly broke him away from her. Sofia squeezed his hand.

"I'm landing with Vati, Ren! Don't worry!"

"It doesn't matter, you won't survive!" By then, he could make out the dark patches of ground. The clouds were finally starting to clear. He didn't have much time.

Sofia pulled her hand away from him.

"I'll see you soon!" She blew a kiss, taking her hand to hold onto the wheelchair with both hands now. Ren glared and went to grab her again, but another updraft sent him tumbling back towards his group. _'No!_' He thought angrily. She'd die. She'd die all because her father was an idiot! They wouldn't survive and she was going to die!

"Ren!" Yoh called. The Chinese teen looked down to see Yoh smiling. "Don't worry. She'll be okay." Ren's knuckles went white over his suitcase. Another glance to the two Fausts. They were slowly growing farther and farther apart. He could barely make her out now. "Faust won't let his daughter die, Ren. You need to stop worrying." At that, he pointed to the ground. "'Cause it's almost time to land!"

Ryu seemed to have finally awaken with HoroHoro (of all people) calming him down. "Come on, get ready!"

Ren turned back to them, biting down on the inside of his cheek. "Well then! What are you waiting for!" HoroHoro nodded and mounted his snowboard once more.

The ground drew closer and closer. Ren could see the small reminisce of grass. Even weeds.

50 feet.

His eyes looked back to where he'd last seen Sofia and her father. Ren couldn't see them anymore. They must've been at least three miles away.

20 feet.

He wondered if they really would survive the impact

10 feet.

"Now!"


	13. A Stubborn Faust

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei-sama owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic.

Author's Note: Okay, I've got a positive confirmation on how Sofia and Ren can meet up now! This takes place the first night of when the group find the town full of shaman. Remember, 'Fluch' means 'Damn'

"I will conquer the tournament. I will show everyone. I will be Shaman King."

"Of course, Master Ren."

Ren ranted these things to the spirit flame beside his head while walking around the village. Cafes, gift shops, department stores lined the sidewalks with people passing in and out of them. Ren strolled with his ever loyal Bason down the street.

They'd been in the Pache village for almost a month now. But despite all the attractions of his surroundings, Ren kept himself disciplined. He trained, he worked out and he meditated by himself. He still had his head on the tournament and would make no mistake of screwing up his chances of winning.

'_With Bason on my side, there's no way I can lose_.'

Though, Ren had ulterior motives for the increased training. Similar to when he'd been trying to stop thinking about Sofia after battling with his father, ever since the plane ride Ren had been trying to all around forget her.

To be perfectly honest, the free falling incident between him and the blonde had... hurt. He'd been rejected by her. Something he'd been trying to save himself from for so long.

She had picked certain DEATH to be with her father, instead of ensured safety with him. The prospect of death had interested her more then Ren. He spent the first few days after the plane ride just wondering if Sofia was okay.

The rest of the time he spent trying to forget she had ever existed.

If she didn't want him, fine. Let her be with her lunatic father. If he wasn't enough for her then... what was the point? He'd become so fond of her surprisingly. He didn't want to admit it, and now he HATED admitting it. The fact that he liked her so much, yet she'd barely given him a second look.

If he was nothing to her, then she would have to be nothing to him.

Ren was just about to cross the street, when something caught his eye. Someone to be precise. Someone... blonde

'_No way..._'

A young girl dressed in black with a top hat on sat at one of the patio tables of a restaurant, umbrella shading her from the sun. Blonde hair poked out from the hat and she wore sunglasses over her eyes. A dog laid at her feet and a walking stick leant against her legs.

His eye's widened in surprise. Then squinted lightly at the figure. The restaurant was across the street, the girl well out of ear shot from him. And if Ren was right, she wouldn't be able to see him either.

"What is it Master?" Bason blinked lightly, confused by the sudden lack of movement from the Tao. He glanced up before looking back across the street. Bason looked over as well, trying to figure out what could have grabbed his master's attention. "... Oh."

Ren glared. "Well I don't care! She can laze about by herself if she wants!" He snapped, turning to leave. Unfortunately, his legs refused to respond to his stubborn attitude. His fists clenched and his eyes glanced back across the street.

Bason blinked before hovering to his shoulder. "I won't tell anyone if you go." He assured. Ren closed his eyes, before letting a deep, irritable sigh.

"You aren't to tell a SINGLE person about this."

"Of course master."

At that, he sprinted across the street in a burst of speed. Cursing the pedestrian shamans around him for slowing him down, he wormed his way through the crowds. Bason followed behind as always, still a little rattled by his master's behavior.

"Sofia!"

The blonde looked over to the voice. Ren came to a halt at the hip-high, metal, bar gates surrounding the patio. She had a book in her lap and a hand over the page. The rottweiler underneath the table rose his head towards him, giving a mildly interested look.

"Hallo?" She greeted curiously. Ren froze in place, staring.

She was covered in bandaging and band-aids. Her left eye was hidden with gauze that stretched down from what the top had covered. A band-aid on her cheek and her left arm held with a sling. Along the part of her shoulder that was revealed by the shirt that collared around it(slightly tattered and patched in places to match her skirt) was sewn with stitches. She was even thinner and paler than before and her hair a good deal shorter.

"Master...?" Bason nudged Ren's head cautiously. The teenager blinked a few times with his amber, cat-like eyes before coming out of his trance. The blonde sat there in surprised wonder.

"S-Sofia?"

Her eyebrows (or at least the one that he could see) raised high above her sunglasses. She stood up and smiled.

"Ren!" She picked up her walking stick with her right hand and traced the edge to the gates, the only thing keeping her from mauling the poor Tao. He hopped over and, with the help of her cane, she quickly found him engulfed him in a one-armed hug. "Ooh, I missed you so much!" She cooed. The dog had now risen up and was sniffing among the two to greet the new stranger. Ren's cheeks tinged with red before he pulled her away from him.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Sofia paused for a second before dawning in realization. " Oh! You mean these!" She gestured to her arm and head.

"The fatal looking wounds? Yes that would be it." She laughed.

"Oh please, fatal." She waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense, these are just from the landing." She tugged on his arm for him to sit at her table. He did so, but not of course without the dog rubbing his nose along his legs.

"Landing?" Ren pushed away the snout of the rottweiler while asking. Sofia nodded while placing down her walking stick and book.

"Yes, from the Pache Plane." Of course, the whole reason he'd hesitated to cross the street just to TALK to her. How could he have forgotten it so easily? Sofia's current state was the most distracting thing, and obviously the result.

"I knew you should've joined our group." He said gruffly, leaning his chin into his palm on the arm rest. Sofia smiled lightly with a shake of her head.

"Oh please." She repeated. "This is nothing compared to my father."

"It's your father's fault your like that!"

"Always such a worrier." Sofia teased. "I'll be out of this sling in a week. And these bandages are actually coming off pretty soon." She strung a hand through her hair casually, the dog plopping down at her feet again underneath the table.

"I'm sure it was ten times worse when you finally woke up, idiot. I should've have grabbed you in the air when I had the chance." Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek. He had wondered if she'd landed safely with her father during the trip. This was his answer?

"You're such a sweet heart." Sofia took off her sunglasses. The bandages did indeed cover all of her left eye. But the right one gazed at Ren fondly.

A waitress sauntered over to their table, notebook poised in her hand. "Are you ready to order yet miss?"

The German girl suddenly grew tense, her back straightening up. She swallowed down and said, "Oh, uh no. Not yet, sorry." Ren tilted back in his chair with a roll of his eyes.

"Two glasses of milk." The waitress drew her head back in mild surprise, but scribbled down the order. Ren folded his arms in his lap, looking at Sofia inquisitively. She herself seemed uncomfortable.

"Ren, you didn't have to."

"When was the last time you ate?"

Sofia managed a deadpan look with her one eye. "Last night."

"And what did you eat?"

"... A sandwich."

"Oh really? What kind of sandwich?" She let out an audible sigh.

"Chicken."

"The hell you did."

"Ren!" Ren remained with his calm and cool position in his chair.

"It's obvious you haven't had an actual MEAL in quite a while. I don't have to be an empath to know when someone's lying." Sofia chewed on her lower lip with a playful grin.

" Well it doesn't matter. I eat enough."

"You look anorexic."

"You're one to talk. Your hips are as small as mine." Ren narrowed his eyes on her, for a moment wondering how she even knew that. But before he could reply Bason's spirit hovered over.

"Do not insult my master! He shows nothing but concern and fondness and you reward with him with snide comments!" He defended, only a foot or so away from Sofia's face. She blinked lightly.

"Is that Bason?"

"It is! And you should show some respect to m---"

"Bason that's enough." Ren cut through the second part of the spirit's rant. Sofia placed her cheek into her hand, leaning forward on the table.

That was when the waitress arrived back with their drinks. Ren took a sip from his glass and wiped the milk from his lip before starting back to the conversation.

"Considering your tatty clothes and the fact that your father DID lose his job as a doctor, I suppose he hasn't really taken you out on the town lately. Has he?"

Sofia traced a finger around the rim of her glass, smirking. "Well Sherlock, you solved the case. But that doesn't mean you get the girl."

"I just don't see why you're still with him. It's obviously not good for you!" He snapped. "He should be more worried about keeping you alive then bringing his wife back to life." Sofia narrowed her eye at the table.

"That wife happens to be my mother. And it is all MY choice to stay with him Ren." She took a large gulp of the drink and let out a breath. "Don't make it sound like he's forcing me to stay with him or like he doesn't think I'm better off without him."

Ren paused, sipping from his glass. "What do you mean?" Sofia bit down on her lower lip again, now purely out of habit. The black lipstick accentuated by her pale features.

"Every chance my Vati got, he tried to send me back to Germany and put me into a foster family. But I wouldn't have it. He tried leaving me with family but I always made my way back. I already knew necromancy and could summon skeletons to take me home." She stared down at her glass, still running the pad of her finger along the rim. "When they said that only contestants were allowed on the Pache Plane, my father tried to convince them to fly me back to Germany on one of the other planes. But I made the officiants let me on."

Her glassy, blue eye suddenly hardened into a glare. "I don't care what happens to me, I want to be there when my father brings my mother back to life."

Ren sighed irritably, finishing off the last of his cup. "Stubborn as always." He quipped. Her expression softened and once more, her lips stretched into a smile.

"It's my quality."

"Some would call it a fault."

"Some would say you have an attitude problem."

The two chatted on, during which Ren ordered a full lunch for the both of them. They talked about the journey to the village, about the book she was reading, also about the odd Chocolove Ren had just met. She had him talk in German for a little while just so Ren could polish his accent.

It was the first time the two had actually just sat down and had a proper conversation. No worries of what would happen next or anxiousness of the tournament. Ren forgot any care of someone spotting him with Sofia and she relaxed enough to let him pay for the meal. Ren had Bason apologize for yelling at her. The rottweiler underneath the table took quick sniffs up Ren's leg and he realized that it was actually the dog Frankensteiny in full over soul.

Ren was enjoying himself here. Sofia never took his snippy or rude remarks the wrong way. She laughed them off and continued talking animatedly. Ren, like with his friends, could relax with Sofia. He'd always figured girls to throw fits for the way he talked to them. But he could say whatever he felt like, because Sofia knew just how he felt.

Usually, such an ability made him feel vulnerable. Like he was naked to her. He couldn't hide anything, nor could he lie. But then again, he never really felt the need to lie to her. She seemed so happy with just him.

They remained at the restaurant for another two hours. The sun was setting with pink fingers stretching across the sky. The sky itself was now a hazy orange. Frankensteiny nudged and nuzzled at Sofia's legs, causing her to pout.

"Fluch... I've got to be getting back." Ren stretched out his back before standing up.

"What is he, your alarm clock?"

"Henh, somewhat. I'm supposed to be in by sunset."

"I suppose I should go too." He brushed himself off with Bason near his shoulder, ready to leave with him. Sofia grabbed her book and walking stick before rising to her feet. The dog at her knees hopped and trotted excitedly, glad to be moving again.

Ren blinked when he felt Sofia take hold of his arm. Her left hand held her book and walking stick, while her right was holding on his elbow. He soon realized that she was only doing so to be led out of the maze of patio tables. Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek and started weaving her through the pathway to the sidewalk.

'_Why am I still so nervous?_' He thought angrily. Wasn't he over this yet? Contact with Sofia was normal. They were 'together' now... weren't they? The blonde seemed so calm and natural about being with him. Couldn't she still be a little awkward about this too?

Sofia spoke, but he was so annoyed with himself he barely noticed. Ren snapped from his thoughts to the question.

"Pardon?"

Sofia smiled hopefully. "Can you walk me to the hotel? I'm still having trouble finding my way around here and Frankensteiny has no sense of direction." Ren shrugged, though his ears were starting to redden.

"Fine. It's on my way anyway." Sofia turned her head back to the street in front of her.

"Thanks. Lord knows how many times I've gotten lost already." She was shifting her left arm a little to get a better grasp over her book and walking stick, when Ren snatched the book away.

"Idiot, you shouldn't be using that arm." Sofia laughed and switched her walking stick into her right hand.

"Sorry."

Frankensteiny trotted along with them, sometimes skipping ahead and waiting for them to catch up. He barked and howled out of no where, most likely at all the different spirits that passed through. Ren rolled his eyes at the playful animal while Sofia just giggled.

Somewhere during the walk, Ren had wrapped an arm around Sofia's waist. It actually took him a moment to realize just how much closer he'd brought her to him. One moment he'd been so nervous and suddenly it was the most natural thing. She'd leant her head onto his shoulder and the fingers from her left hand just grazing his from the sling. Woofs and the faint tapping of her walking stick in the background.

He grumbled something and removed her top hat. The rim had been digging into his collar bone and he'd finally had enough of it. Sofia game him a funny look.

"That's mine."

"It's annoying." She laughed.

"Give it back."

"It was bothering me."

She shook her head with another laugh and rested her head back down. He followed suit and leaned his head against hers. This was nice. Peaceful and comfortable.

"I had a good time with you, Re--"

"Whooo! Ren you DOG!"

The teenage Tao grew several stress veins at the sudden interruption to the 'peaceful and comfortable' moment. Now that it was lost, he looked over his shoulder and spotted HoroHoro, Chocolove and Yoh walking behind them.

"Heeey Ren. Heey Sofia." Yoh greeted with a wave and a simple giggle. HoroHoro grinned slyly at the couple while Chocolove seemed confused.

"How does a guy THAT uptight get a girlfriend?"

"What--!" Ren was just about to lunge at the jokester, but was held back by Yoh.

"He's just being silly." Yoh motioned for the Tao to calm down. HoroHoro laughed before glancing at Sofia.

"Hey Sofia, what happened to you?" He threw a pretend suspicious look at Ren. "Has Ren been beating you?" She smiled and shook her head.

"No, no. This was awhile ago. No biggy."

Chocolove quickly came up to her with pencil and notebook in hand. "So you're Faust's daughter, Sofia?" She drew her head back in confusion.

"Oh-- uh yes." He looked her up and down and stroked his chin.

"So... you're blind?" Yet again, Ren made another lunge at the American.

"What're you doing, asking something like that!" And once more, HoroHoro and Yoh held the purplenette back. Chocolove rolled his eyes.

"Ch', I'm just getting information!"

Sofia stood there, dumbfounded and clueless to what went on around her. Frankensteiny however was running through their legs to inhale the scents around him. Ren broke away from Yoh and brushed himself off.

"What were you doing following us anyway?"

"Well we come bearing good news." Yoh said, patting Frankensteiny on the head. "Faust eighth is joining up with us."

"What!"


	14. Suddenly

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari. I own the plot and rights to this fic.

Author's Note: This is set just after Eliza is reunited with her spirit again, thanks to Anna. We love you, really. Anyway, time for translations! The first to come up is when Sofia says 'Was falch ist' which means 'what is wrong?'. When Faust says 'Nichst' it means 'nothing.' 'Was' is 'what' again. 'Mein kind' is 'my child'.

Suddenly, she was gone.

Sofia had came into Ren's life rather quickly, and most unexpectedly. At first her presence had been unwanted. He'd still been awkward about friends. And the discovery of fond feelings was even harder for him. From a simple reunion of friends, to a walk to the phone booth, to treating his wounds, to the Halloween Party. That's where it had started. The party, then further on to the plane ride and fall, then to lunch.

She had came in, swept him away, and now...

... now suddenly, she was gone.

"Faust is gonna be apart of mine and Ryu's team." Yoh explained as they walked up to the building they were staying in. The sullen walls with old aged concrete greeted them with a depressing state.

"Steam!" Piped up Chocolove out of the blue. HoroHoro punched him in the arm and sighed.

"I told you, if you're gonna be on this team, cut it out!" He barked. With an irritable sigh, he ran a hand through his blue spikes."Ryu's still being stubborn about Lyserg though." HoroHoro added, folding his arms. Chocolove rubbed his arm.

"Isn't Faust the crazy guy though? Rememb--" That got another punch. "Oww man! I didn't say anything!"

But that hit had been from Ren. He flexed a fist as a warning before dropping it to his side. Sofia walked beside him with Hana, sweat dropping.

"Ren..."

"He's on my team. He needs to know his place." Chocolove backed away nervously as Yoh opened the door to their building. Inside the cracked sandstone concrete ground was even more of an eyesore. A few futons with blankets were laid out with the shoe mats at the door.

Anna, Faust, Eliza, and Ryu were all piled into the room. Faust in his wheelchair with Eliza by his side, Ryu was on one of the futons with Anna standing before them as if the dictator of them all.

"It's about time." She fingered the beads around her neck playfully. The others looked up as they entered, and Faust came up to Sofia in his wheel chair, Eliza pushing it. "What took you so long?" Yoh scratched the back of his head lightly.

"It's a big village. Took a while to find them."

Sofia and her father matched quite well. None of the ground had seen the two together before, but when they did it was obvious they were related. The pale skin, lifeless eyes and shocking blonde hair. Long, thin forms and of course, the broken and tattered limbs covered in bandages.

"Sofia..." Faust took in a deep breath, looking her over quite fondly. The young Faust furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Was fa--." But before she could even finish, she was enveloped into a hug with Faust's good arm, the other wrapped into a cast. Sofia blinked a few times and slowly reached up to his head. "Was falch ist?" Though she could tell nothing was wrong. Faust was happy. Overjoyed really. She felt an involuntary smile tug at her lips and her eyes started to water. Faust's fingers tightened at her clothing and he smiled.

"Nichst, little one. Nichst. Your mutti is home." The one eye on Sofia's small face, that wasn't covered with gauze, widened a good inch.

"W-was?" Her hand trembled on her father's head, but another hand came to calm it. A smooth and warm one.

"Mein kind." A sultry and soft voice came to comfort her. Eliza came beside Faust, hugging Sofia as well. Faust allowed her to take the girl into her arms, watching the show of affection. "You've grown so much, mein kind."

Sofia looked confused, surprised, shocked and, overall, overwhelmed. All emotions which fell to the same emotion that was finally emitting from her Mother. Her mother was no longer lifeless without expression or feeling. Sofia could feel the emotions and a warmth that came and made her lips tremble.

"Mutti...!"

Suddenly, she was gone.

Sofia had been reunited with her mother. The Fausts were a family again. They had found their happy ending. That was the end.

At least, for Ren it was.

Now that Sofia was with her mother again, they had years to catch up on. Years of talking, adventures, trials, tribulations and THEN some. They spent all kinds of time with each other, and of course with Faust eighth. The Patch village was now home to their quality family time.

Where was Ren in all of this? He wasn't there. He could barely get a conversation from Sofia considering she was always going off somewhere else. She didn't have time for him. She had forgotten him. Pushed aside so easily. For two weeks, no more lunch time chats, peaceful moments and certainly no more talking in German for him.

Even though Sofia had always been blind, it was the first time he actually regarded that she didn't see him.

So for those two weeks without her, he trained mercilessly. If she chose to forget him, then he would forget her as well. If she could just stop and push him from her mind, so could he. He certainly wasn't one for hoping she'd come back. If she was gone... she was gone.

And he certainly couldn't do anything about it. Could he now?

"Master Ren?" Ren glanced over to the spirit.

"What?"

"Shouldn't you take a rest? You've been at this all day."

"Hmph, how many times have I heard that?"

"Master Ren..." Ren sighed.

"I don't CARE Bason. I NEED to train."

Ren loaded on two more bricks to the pile that was slowly growing up to his chest. There was just enough that it would actually need a car to demolish.

It was far past the hours of sun light, the moon taking its place and shining with silver beams upon the desert village. Little and large buildings, home to not only the Patch tribe but to the Shaman King tournament participants. Some with little lights, others that had faded dark long ago. For it was no only far past the hours of daylight, it was always far past the hours of sleeping.

But sleep had always been a rival of Ren's.

Ren stood in the night, bare-chested with only his pants cuffed below the knees and shoes to protect him from the below zero temperatures. But his thin figure refused to shiver nor allow one goose bumps.

"At least put your shirt back on. Deserts are known for the freezing nights." Bason pleaded, pointing out the discarded clothing against the wall with his kwan dao. Ren answered with another 'Hmph!'. Bason sighed and watched his Master work.

Ren flexed the joints in his hand and took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes, calming himself. He let out the breath, letting everything go. The distant sounds of civilization, the bitter wind that swept through his hair and pants, and the cold ache in himself. This was his only way to detach himself, like she did.

All he saw was the mound of bricks. Representing the hurt he felt. Just him and the bricks.

Ren opened his eyes again. He drew his right leg up, back then struck forward at the pile of bricks. Stepping back, he then punched against them. Finally, he ducked down, keeping his right leg stretched out to the side before sweeping along the ground towards the heap.

The three attacks caused a flurry of dust to rise of from the broken materials. Though after a few moments, the dust cleared from the wreckage. Wreckage was definitely the word for it.

The bricks were in rubble, spread apart a good deal farther from their once mighty pile that had rose up to Ren's chest. But now they lay in pieces. Defeated and a good deal broken.

Ren sighed, his jaw clenched down the pain in his leg and arm. They reddened quite quickly, preparing to bruise and blemish. He took in a shaky breath before sighing. He smirked to himself.

"And you said I needed a rest." He laughed lightly at the spirit who merely sweat dropped.

"You never cease to amaze Master Ren." Ren turned to what was left of the bricks confidently.

This was more than just training for the Tao boy. This was his way detaching himself from his feelings. Sofia had her empathy to hold down but Ren had his general affection to keep quiet. This was how he dealt with Sofia.

Suddenly, something snapped to Ren's attention. He blinked, the back of his neck prickling lightly. He glared and turned around back to the building. His amber gaze scattered across his surroundings. His body grew tense; instinctively going for his kwan dao. But before he could reach it someone stepped out from beside the building.

Sofia stood there. Dark, tatty clothes and all. Frankensteiny sat at her feet, leash tied around his neck bone. A sheepish grin played on her pale face cast in moonlight.

Ren blinked a few times before his eyes sharpened to a glare. No... she couldn't. He was so close. She couldn't do this. Not now.

"What the hell do you want?" He snapped. Before he knew it his skin rippled with goose bumps. Bason peered over before growling low in his throat.

He knew what trouble this girl had caused his master. And he certainly would want no more of it. His master had been through more than enough in this lifetime. This girl would only cause more problems for Ren.

"You're an idiot."

Ren swallowed down the words. Sofia stared down at the ground near his feet with the same amused look. What would come to follow them? '_You're an idiot. Why would I ever like you?' 'You're an idiot for ever thinking we were together.' 'You're an idiot softy._'?

Sofia stood in silence for a little while longer and shook her head. "You're an idiot."

"Yes I heard that part. But that doesn't answer my question." Her dark smile grew as much as Ren's anger. So now she'd came to rub it in?

"I CAME to knock some sense into you." She placed both working arms on her hips. During the two weeks of ignoring, Sofia's arm had grown out of its sling and her head injuries had healed over. Though of course, he had not been there for the time she had them taken off.

Despite her words, she didn't give a sly smile or an 'I told you so' smile. Her face turned more sympathetic than anything. He scowled to meet it.

"Oh REALLY?"

"Yes. Because you're an i--"

"I GOT that part!"

"Ah but you don't know why." She shook an annoying little finger at him. Ren's fists tightened over the kwan dao. How dare she treat him like a child? How dare she act so above and superior to him? This stubborn annoyance of a girl, despite her image, was no sweet angel. "And I'm only treating you like a kid because you decided to ACT like one."

Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek. '_Damn her empathy_.' Sofia took his silence as an invitation to continue.

"You're an idiot because," here it came. The process of his pride being stripped away. Yes he was an idiot. An idiot of ever letting his affection take advantage of him. "you actually thought I would PURPOSELY ignore you." Ren looked up, Sofia's smile had faded. This was a different look. A look of disappointment.

"What?"

"My mutti came back to life, I spend time with her and suddenly 'oh no! She's not paying attention to me!'" Ren's expression had turned from scowl, to confusion, to incredulous. "Honestly Ren, I'd've thought you to be more mature than that."

"Excuse you?" Now he was angry. "I'm sorry I decided to REACT to being completely shut out for two whole weeks! How long am I supposed to wait until you're done playing 'mother and daughter' with a corpse who knows how to talk!" He was done with playing nice. If Sofia wanted to rant at him, she could go ahead and try. Ren happened to be quite good at it.

"Oh yes. I'm really immature for being glad my mutti came back to me. Excuse me for showing EMOTIONS."

"Towards something that is DEAD! And has BEEN dead for a long time!"

"But NOW she's back! She's my mother! But noo, Lord forbid I should be loving my famil--" Sofia stopped herself before she could finish. Though it was far too late. She could feel his back stiffen lightly and his face redden in anger. What scared her most was that he did not speak. And he didn't need to. Feelings of betrayal swept over Sofia, enough to make her cry.

A silence was exchanged between them. Small chatters were here and there around the village at some of the businesses. Crickets chirped in harmony, dogs barked in the distance. And somewhere, a tumbleweed bounced by.

"Ren I--" She heard a rustle of movement. A sharp pain came to her leg, telling her Ren was obviously walking on an injury. "Ren I'm sorry for what I said, and I'm sorry that you feel like a betrayed you." Though he listened, he didn't stop moving. Ren picked up his shirt and kwan dao and was now looking for his jacket and scarf. "But I'm not sorry for being with my mutti. And to be honest, I feel like YOU've betrayed me."

That caught his attention.

He stood up straight with a glare. " _I_ betrayed YOU?" The accusing tone came into play and Sofia was glad to hear him speaking to her again. She could deal with not seeing him, but not being able to hear him killed her.

She stood her ground when she answered him. "At the first sign of doubt in me you immediately assumed it was over. That just because I decided to be around my mutti more than you, you thought I had forgotten you." She paused, one hand reaching to the material of her long-sleeved shirt, fiddling with the fabric. "The first sign of trouble you just gave. You didn't even care if we were together or not. If something went wrong you just figured I didn't care." Her lifeless, blue eyes turned sad. "You didn't even trust me enough to second-guess your doubts in me."

Ren took in the statement, the explanation. He closed his eyes and sighed irritably. Here he had been, all ready to be angry and rant at her, and now she decided to make him feel guilty. His anger dissipated and his tense muscles dropped. What did he do now? Anger, he was used to. He could deal with anger. But guilt... Ren didn't like guilt.

Ren just wasn't cut out for this whole relationship 'thing'. Affection, second-guessing, doubts, trust? This was all so new to him. And he wasn't sure he could handle all of it at once. Fighting and battles of death he could handle. Relationships he wasn't so sure.

But he looked up at Sofia, the moon's rays over the dark land making her show up in black an white. Her hair bright enough to look silver to match her skin, but her clothes too dark and were the perfect contrast. The only color to show were her eyes. The pale, crystal blue eyes that saw nothing yet could see everything in him.

Ren looked to Sofia, and for some reason he had faith. He had faith in himself, not enough to be positive to succeed. But enough to try. He wanted to at least try to be enough for her.

He threw down his shirt and folded his arms. "You better not be hoping for a 'sorry'." He answered calmly. Sofia's expression lightened to curiosity, pursing her lips together. "Because you're certainly not getting one out of me."

Sofia smiled and shook her head. "No, no. You don't need to say it." She walked a bit closer to him. "But I AM sorry for yelling at you before." Ren stretched out his arms.

"Well I suppose even Germans make mistakes." Sofia giggled, combing her fingers through her hair. "How long were you standing there anyhow?" He asked, absently dragging the blade of the kwan dao along the ground.

"Ohh, a little around 'at least put your shirt back on.'" Ren's ears reddened, remembering his lack of clothing around his chest. "How can you stand staying out here without your shirt? It's freezing!" She rubbed her arms and Frankensteiny helped her find the Chinese teen. He sniffed up at his bare ankles and at the cuffs of his pants.

"More will power. I barely feel it." He lied. His goose bumps hadn't faded any since he'd been talking.

"Liar." She smiled to herself and reached out for him. Ren blinked and caught her arm.

"What do you want?" He asked, curious to her actions. She looked to be mulling something over. Sofia raised her head a little though involuntarily kept her gaze aimed forward at his neck. She stepped closer to him, taking what was once a foot distance to only a few inches.

"To keep you warm." Soon enough, two arms were wrapped around Ren's chest to reach the middle of his back. His amber eyes widened quite a bit at the warm embrace he'd just been taken into. Now he knew he was blushing. His face was now the warmest thing on his body. Though the front of him where Sofia had placed herself was catching up.

One hand twitched in indecision, the other gripped his kwan dao tightly. Sofia had hugged him before, yes. But this was… intimate. The dance had been more awkward than anything. It had been the start. This… this out of no where was intimacy at its best.

"Urg! You're so cold!" She exclaimed, rubbing her hands over his goose bumped back. Ren sweat dropped. She giggled at his reaction and traced her hands from his back to his chest. "Ren, could I...?"


	15. True Intimacy

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari. Hiroyuki Takei-sama owns Shaman King. I own the plot and rights to this fanfic. Tuh da.

Author's Note: This scene was kind of taken from something a read in a book called 'Sik Sika' from like... 5 years ago almost.

"Ren, could I...?" The words died on her lips, trailing off. She was hesitant about what she would say next. Her walking stick's handle was looped loosely around her wrist with both hands placed on his bare chest.

It was the starting to a guilty romance novel.

Ren gave Sofia a funny look. Since when did Sofia hesitate with her words? She always seemed like a chatty music box, ready to sound off at the touch of a button. ESPECIALLY around him. Always egging him on for a conversation.

Yet here she was; quiet as a lamb. Her movements had ceased but she continued to chew incessantly on her lower lip. Her face, instead of facing up for him to look at her, was looking down.

"Yes?" He turned his hand in a circular motion for her to continue out of habit. She couldn't see the gesture but could feel the irritation from Ren. He hated it when people didn't finish their sentences. And it took few a few moments before finally replying.

"Ren... would you-- would you stand still for me for a second?" The question seemed rushed. Ren gave her a funny look. That was all? That was what had gotten Sofia all nervous? For him to stand still?

"What for?" was his reply. Sofia creased her eyebrows up with a pleading expression.

"Just-- please?" Ren didn't get what was such a big deal about it, nor did he know what she could've been planning. But he also wasn't in a mood for arguing with her again.

He sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. Sofia smiled, taking it as a yes.

She stepped closer to him, and the hands that had once been safely planted on his chest began to slip upwards. Passing over his thin collar bone and sweeping up his small neck. She kept the skin contact so she could guide herself up. All the way up to cup his cheeks in her hands.

A lump formed in his throat and his muscles stiffened quite a bit. He was positive she could feel the blood pooling into his cheeks to make his face beat red.

"What are y--" He started the blurt, but Sofia cut him off with a gentle,

"Shh."

Either she hadn't noticed the heat of his skin or didn't care, because she continued on.

Sofia's palms rubbed against Ren's cheeks, going over the old dents and scars of battles. They weren't very visible to the eyes but were almost obvious to touch. The pads of her thumbs slid up the bridge of his nose and her other fingers brushed over his eyebrows. She smiled.

"You have a small nose." Ren remained silent. His voice had left him for the moment.

When Sofia's fingers drew too close to his eyes, he closed them completely. He took in the feeling of her caressing his face. Exploring his skin with her touch. He couldn't see his surroundings, the village street quiet with the night air. All had was the sound of Sofia's soft breath against his neck, the feeling of her walking stick leaning against his front as it dangled from her wrist, and the hands that stroked his face.

There was a giggle after she was done with his eyes. Ren's hand clenched over his kwan dao. Was he ridiculous to her? She must've noted his embarrassment.

"Oh no, no. I'm not laugh at you… well." He opened one eye to see her struggling through her works. "Vatti always told me the Asian have such tiny eyes. I just noticed that he wasn't that far off."

Ren sweat dropped and closed his eyes again. Now he REALLY felt ridiculous. When would she be stopping this?

Soon enough, the bangs of his hair tickled across her knuckles. He felt her come nearer to him and her hands stretch up into his hair. There was another realization. Sofia was a lot closer to Ren than he was used to. And she stood there a lot longer than what Ren was used to. Her front was practically right up against him and he was sure he could feel the toe of her shoe graze against his.

Ren wondered if he should dare open his eyes to see just HOW close she was to him.

Her fingers combed through his rugged hair, not taking long to meet the infamous Tao Ren cowlick. She giggled as she tried to find the tip.

"So this is why everyone calls you shark head." Ren sweat dropped and, purely by accident, opened his eyes when opening his mouth to retort. First his eyes, now his hair! But the words never actually made it out.

Sofia couldn't have been more than a few good inches from his face. Her arms around his neck to reach the back of his head. She really was RIGHT up against him. No wonder she had seemed so awkward about asking him to do this.

She caught his nervous reaction and her hands slid from his hair and back to his shoulders. Sofia smiled lightly, cheeks reddened.

"Ren... I think you're handsome."

Ren swallowed down hard, his eyes widening quite a bit. He blinked a few times and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?"

"I think you're handsome Ren." Sofia repeated. That's when it hit him.

She really had been exploring Ren through her touch. She had made a map of his face and generated an image of him for herself. And apparently, to her, he was...

Handsome?

He snapped from his reaction, looking back down at her. She looked to be waiting for some kind of reply. But seemed just as happy without it. Sofia knew how he felt. He needn't say a thing to her and she would be happy.

She was happy with him.

Ren's free hand, the one that wasn't hanging on to his kwan dao for dear life, raised itself from his side. It hung in the air for a moment in indecision. The witty Tao Ren had nothing to say, nothing to remark with. The brave and strong Tao Ren had nothing to lash at, his defenses broken down one by one.

Ren had let Sofia see him, and Sofia had liked what she saw.

"Ren...?" Came her voice. Something he loved to hear. He didn't care if it screamed or yelled, laughed or accused him. He loved hearing it. Just saying his name made him feel... right.

Sofia accepted him.

Sofia liked him.

Sofia made Ren feel wanted. Not something he got often but something he liked.

Something he loved.

Sofia made him feel like he belonged.

The indecisive hand found a place to be. It took a spot at Sofia's hip. She blinked a few times with her vague blue eyes. Eyes that saw everything in him and liked what they found.

"Ren?"

Despite the fact she saw everything in Ren, Sofia hadn't expected what happened next. Ren dipped his head down to catch her lips in his. His golden, amber eyes remained open as he saw Sofia's reaction.

Finally he could see her. He could see how she felt because now he had taken down her defense.

The eyes he had been so fond of grew a good two inches in diameter. Her whole body stiffened and the hands that had so gingerly taken in his features were now holding his shoulders tightly. As if to keep her from falling.

But then her mascara eyelashes fluttered and closed over her irises. Sofia gave in. She let go.

Though most romantic novels and movies depicted first kisses as a time that froze and where everything stops except the couple. Trees rustled in the back ground. Frankenstein nudged Sofia's leg a few times. In the corner of Ren's view he could still make out Bason's specter of a shape by the wall.

But their attention gave way to such things.

They did not hear the trees, nor did Sofia even notice her pet wanting attention.

The outside world kept moving, but it was lost to Ren and Sofia.

The kiss was not full of languid movements or curious tongues. Nor were their heads moving together to deepen it.

It was a simple, innocent, and first kiss for the both of them. Merely lips upon lips.

There was no lust.

Only true intimacy. This was very intimate.

Perhaps that was why Ren suddenly took the plunge. With him, one would always have to make the first move. What would make him take such a risk and show such an affectionate side?

Perhaps it was to know true intimacy. To know and feel what it was like to be wanted. And to show Sofia that same feeling. But then again, maybe it was just a spontaneous action.

Ren lifted his head from Sofia's and took in a deep, silent breath. She stood before him; her eyes still faintly shut. She paused. Not even bothering to open her eyes. He licked his lips, thankful to not taste any of her lipstick on them.

The grip on his shoulders slackened and the comforting breath against his neck returned. Sofia blinked a few times before grinning sheepishly.

"What was that for?" Her voice came out quieter than before, not wanting to disturb the moment they had just shared. Ren took a while to find his voice on his own. Though refused to give her the idea he was out of breath.

"You talk too much." Was his reply. She giggled, leaning her head against him. The hand on her hip reached up to her back to pull her closer. Sofia sighed into him.

If only the moment could have lasted a little longer.

Frankenstein gave a few tugs on his leash and walked in between the two teens. Sofia sweat dropped lightly and kneeled down, whilst Ren threw quite the dirty look down at the animal zombie. She shhhed Frankenstein and rubbed the top of his skull soothingly.

"I should be... going back." Said Sofia, quite slowly. She didn't like saying it just as much as Ren didn't like hearing it. He furrowed his eyebrows down at her.

"What the hell for? Just because the dog needs to doesn't mean you do." Sofia sighed and stood back up, tightening the leash around her wrist.

"I DO need to because my parents are eventually going to notice I've left the room for quite a while." Ren gave her a funny look.

"Why would they be noticing JUST now?" Sofia's cheeks seemed to redden and she sweat dropped again.

"Well... my parents have become quite... intimate since my mother's spirit came back." Ren arched his eyebrows quite a bit. There was a pause between them before his forehead turned blue and closed his eyes.

"Oh God." He began to rub his temples, wincing at the sudden images coming to mind with Faust and Eliza. All whilst Sofia giggled.

"You asked."

"Honestly Sofia. That one piece if information and image I REALLY didn't need in my head." She laughed right out at that. He looked up with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. "I suppose I should be walking you there."

"You don't have to."

"You want me to though." She paused, then smiled.

"I do. I really do."


	16. From the Sidelines

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei DOES however. I own myself, my characters including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari, and the rights and plot to this fanfic. If you're suing, watch out, I'm taking Law class xD. But please, don't sue.

Author's Note: SIGH. Not only am I late, I'm also shorter then usual. But Feline said she liked it this way so I won't go against her judgement. Wow, haven't written a disclaimer in awhile xD. All of them were pre-made over the summer... That sounds really sad. Anyway, there's a POV change right after it describes Bason being ardent(passionate) about tagging along with Sofia and Ren. It should be obvious of who's it is .

"Where are we going, Master?" Bason asked, hovering over to the teen who was slipping on his shirt. Ren sighed, closing his eyes whilst buttoning the shirt up.

"Do I REALLY have to repeat myself, Bason?" The chieftain bowed his head. He remained silent and Ren strapped his oracle pager to his wrist. "Do I?" Bason gulped.

"No, Master Ren. Of course not." Ren 'hmphed!' in approval, brushed off his hips and slipped on his shoes.

"Alright, let's go." Bason snapped to attention and nodded, following behind ever so faithfully. They stepped out into the desert sunlight of the Pache Village. Shamans walked around, fanning themselves gently while awaiting the first match of the tournament.

Ren was taking Sofia out to the shops for the day. They were getting breakfast, shopping for new clothes for her (only because he felt stupid seeing her in almost the same set of clothes everyday), then they would get lunch and explore the village. The ghosts had made sure to tag along. Bason had especially been ardent about coming with the couple.

I never realized it before but... Ren is really growing up.

Though of course, he had been mature his whole life. His surroundings had demanded that kind of attitude from him. He had to be strong, confident, and cruel. He HAD to be mature if we was to handle how he was raised. I know this, because I've been with him his whole life. Since birth, I've seen him grow up to the teenager he is before me.

Yet only now did I see Ren growing up to be a proud adult. Why was that? What was it that was making him change?

Well, he did have friends now. A lot of them too. That was probably the chief cause. His friends we taking the hate away from his heart, slowly helping him forget most of the past terrors of his childhood. They were healing his broken heart, putting it back together piece by piece

Though there were... random variables no one had been counting on. Nor were they wanted.

To be honest, I don't like the German girl. At first, of course, I loved her. She brought a rare happiness to Ren that was more then welcome. I can't say I really understood the connection between them. Nor am I very educated about the term 'empathy'. However, it was enough just to see Ren going red whenever he saw the girl.

I have to say, it was hard to hold in the chuckles. I could tell when Ren was thinking about her, though I'm sure he thought I was clueless. He'd get very quiet, with an angry look on his face. This was before they got together mind you, so then Ren felt ashamed about his feelings. He ended up training just to distract himself.

The night Ren danced with Sofia, I felt like a proud father. I kept thinking to myself 'That's MY Ren there.' I know better then anyone that I have no right to think such a thing. But I swelled with pride that night. Ren had that special someone finally. If Ren had chosen her, I could accept that she was the right person for him.

Though of course there was always the worry. The two of them were still very young. Much too young to have a relationship that would last. They would no doubt break it off and Ren... I could only imagine the kind of effect that would have on Ren. His heart was still very frail and he had tried hard to keep it from anymore kind of rejection that he had faced from his father.

Maybe that's what also helped making Ren grow, the fact that he was taking this kind of risk.

One of my worries were realized on the plane ride. When Sofia had rejected Ren's offer of safety. He had been rejected and he'd suffered for a few days after the incident. He'd go silent for long periods of time, with this distant look. A sad one. Metaphorically, my heart ached. I had been furious with the girl. How DARE she treat a Tao that way? How dare she treat REN that way? The boy who had risked so much for her, and she had pushed him away? I hated her for what she did.

Then came the day where Ren saw her for the first time after the plane ride. I was shocked to see Ren in such a trance at the mere sight of her. Though it goes just to show, just because Ren tried to be in control of his emotions, didn't mean he was successful most of the time.

I thought he might walk away after that. I figured him to be just as furious with her as much as I was. He must've felt betrayed by her. He also hadn't seen her for months. Would he really be willing to take that risk again? I had my answer in only a few seconds. Ren wanted to see her. Wanted to talk to her again. I could tell. That shocked me. Usually Ren was very predictable.

Then again, Ren had surprised me a few times with this girl. With his friends.

I'm not sure if I was happy about the surprises with the girl though... Because no sooner then the next day had that girl rejected him again! She began to ignore him in place of gallivanting around the town with her family. I could understand her attachment to her mother. That was fine with me. But had there really been no room for Ren? Ren suffered once more because of that girl, and I hated her more and more. She had put him through so much pain.

What made me feel worse, was that I could do nothing. I could follow Ren around so he was never really alone, I could put in small quips of 'Yes Master!' to show my eternal obedience for him. But I could never really comfort him. I could only watch and wait.

The night Ren was training and she showed up... I only wished I still had my physical body. I wanted to lash out at her and make her feel the pain Ren had gone through. I wanted her to suffer like Ren had. But now, yet again I could only stand by and pray that Ren did the right thing. I prayed that he would forget that girl and move on.

I was surprised again.

The girl... with only a few words, Ren was ready to be by her side again. I was shocked that he had become so forgiving. But that was literally NOTHING compared to what I saw next. Ren not only forgave her... but showed her a side I had never known to exist. An affectionate side. A loving side.

My Ren was changing. Changing and growing up. For the better, I'm not really sure. But I know that I must trust in my master's every decision. Good or bad, he has to make his own mistakes and successes. I am his tool and I shall do my best to serve as his greatest tool.

"Bason!" The spirit snapped from his thoughts and glanced up. Ren was just approaching the porch to the Funbari Onsen team's hotel. Bason blinked.

"Yes Master?" Ren arched a brow.

"You've been silent since we left the room. Is there something you want to tell me?" Bason drew his head back in confusion. Should he really say something so bold? Something like 'You're making a mistake seeing this girl' or, 'I think you should forget all about Sofia'. The answer was obvious. He had no place saying such a thing. This was something Ren had to learn. It was the only way he would learn.

"No Master, thank you for your concern though."


	17. Shopping Intervention

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters for the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns them. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic and the plot. Coz I thought of it. That's right. ME. Ta da. Don't sue!

Author's Note: See? Me + Deadlines my head on a pike. This chapter is kind of more filler then anything. Not much point but I thought it'd be nice to see Jun introduced to Sofia for a chapter. Will Ren's OTHER relatives come popping up? WHO KNOWS? I don't follow DEADLINES!

Ren leaned against the porch walls outside the hotel room in the early hours of 11 AM. Patch Village bustled with all sorts of shamans awaiting the first match of the Tournament. The heat of the desert sun had everyone on edge. Once in awhile a fight would break out in the streets and shaman fight officiates had to be called out to put it to an end. Though everyday someone would them when the second round would start. Every answer was 'Soon. Be patient.'

Though they should know that Tao Ren is NOT a very patient boy.

"Would you hurry UP!" Ren banged on the door to make himself louder. The wooden door creaked lightly under the blow and was set ajar.

"You're welcome to come in, Ren." Came the smooth voice of Faust eighth. He inwardly shivered at just how... CREEPY that man was. The tone too calm for Ren's liking.

"Just tell your daughter to actually get out here so we can LEAVE." Bason hovered beside him with a sweat drop at the side of his head.

"Master Ren..."

"Oh quiet down Ren and come inside!" That was Sofia's voice. Ren glared towards the door and hopefully towards her as well. He stood up straight and opened the door properly.

"If you would just realize that getting dressed doesn't take half the day, I wouldn't have to quiet down!"

Inside was the Patch hotel room of the Funbari Onsen team. Yoh was actually still fast asleep under the covers on his futon, Faust was sitting by the window while Eliza did Sofia's hair.

"And maybe if YOU realized that getting dressed also involves showering and combing out my hair, you'd be a little more patient." The statement soon followed a yawn. "I'm not used to being awake by 11."

"Hmph, perhaps you could learn from your Father and skip sleeping." Faust glanced over calmly and smiled sweetly at being commented on. Eliza arched an eyebrow at Ren and smiled back down at her daughter.

"/He's just like you described./"

"/I told you. But he can understand German./"

"Yes so gossiping while I'm here in another language won't do you any good." Ren cut in.

"/You make it seem like I cared if you heard./" Faust chuckled to himself, whilst Ren growled lowly.

Sofia had finally agreed to having Ren take her out for the day to the Village. As much as he hated shopping, he also found it increasingly frustrating finding Sofia wearing a lot of the same clothes so often. It annoyed him. He was planning on picking her up a few things and having lunch. Treating her the whole day.

And it also gave him a whole day alone with her.

Sofia tied her hair to a pony tail and stood up from her futon. She wore the same outfit she'd had from the graveyard he'd talked to her at so long ago. The black sweater and a pair of grey track shorts. Ren rolled his eyes.

"It's 28 degrees out there. You can expect to wear a sweater in this kind of heat." Frankensteiny, whom had been standing by the doorway, fetched Sofia's shoes and dropped them by her feet. Hana, whom glided over after looking herself over in a mirror (for whatever reason), managed to direct Sofia's hand.

"To the right, Sofia."

"I'll be FINE." She snapped. Ren groaned.

"Whatever! Just hurry up!" Five minutes later (Sofia had purposely exaggerated on putting on her shoes and Ren ended up yelling at her for it), the couple and their ghosts emerged from the room and into the sunlight. The Tao teen hadn't been lying about the heat. Two steps outside the door and Sofia's face was already red. "See? Now don't you feel silly?"

She just smiled at him for awhile. Once they were a good distance away from the Shaman rooms, she stopped and pulled off the sweater, revealing her black, spaghetti-strapped shirt. After tying the sweater around her waist, she then grabbed his hand and held it in hers. His cheeks instantly matched hers. "Now don't you feel silly?" She mocked him. Ren glared.

"So you're a whore now, are you? Sneaking out of the house with provocative clothing so mummy and daddy don't see?" Sofia laughed, but before she could come up with a comeback, someone started calling his name from behind.

"Liaan! Lian over here!" The two teens turned. Ren flinched, his nerves tightening up. There was only one girl who knew his Chinese name. A slender, 17-year-old girl with emerald green hair sauntered up to him whilst waving. Accompanied by a jiang-si at her side, the famous Lee Bailong joined in and waved cheerfully.

The purplenette's eye twitched and his face went pale. Sofia ended up mimicking his expression involuntarily, and furrowed her brows. "Who is it?"

"Lian! We've been looking for you all morning." Jun greeted, bending down to look him at eye-level. Ren scowled.

"What the hell are you doing here? You're not in the tournament!" She smiled. Sofia frowned in confusion.

"Lian?" Hana nodded.

"It's probably the Chinese translation to his name."

"We're here to cheer you on, of course." Ren sweat dropped. "I can't wait for your fight. It'll be so--oh." He blinked, and saw Jun's gaze drop down to between him and Sofia. "I hope we're not interrupting you two." Sofia was still holding his hand.

Ren snatched his hand back, his face flushed and distanced himself at least a meter away from Sofia. "She-- just needed me to guide her!" He blurted. Jun and Bailong blinked whilst Sofia just sweat dropped.

"Ohh that's adorable. Ren has a girlfriend!"

"Shut up!"

"Notice how he doesn't deny it." Bailong pointed out. Jun giggled and turned back to the blonde girl. "She was one of Ren's friends that helped at Tao Yuan's." The greenette nodded and placed a hand over Sofia's shoulder.

"What were you and Ren planning on doing today?" Jun asked. Sofia paused, turning her head gently towards the 17-year-old. There was a strong air of protective warming up in Sofia's body. It looked as if Jun was worried about her brother.

"Leave her alone and stop bothering us!" Ren barked, marching back to Sofia's side. Jun smiled down at him.

"All you wanted to do was guide her right? Why don't I do it for you?" Ren's eyes widened.

"N-no! I'm fine doing it myself!" Jun waved her hand to dismiss the idea.

"Nonsense! I just want to talk with Sofia properly. I'm sure she'd prefer the friendly conversation as opposed to your constant insults." Ren grew three stress veins. A new record. Bason managed to back up while laughing nervously.

"Master Ren, I'm sure she just wants to talk." Jun nodded.

"See? Bason agrees with me. Come on then." She took a hold of the clueless German girl's hand and led her off down the street. Bailong followed them whilst Ren simply stood there with an incredulous expression.

"Wh-what the hell just happened!" Bason sighed.

"I believe that's what's called 'A woman's logic'."

"What do you think she'll do to Sofia?"

"She said she just wanted to talk. Miss Jun is probably just worried about you." Ren glared down the street, Jun and Sofia were just turning a corner.

"She has a sadistic way of showing it."

---

"Where were you and Ren going today again?" Jun asked, her vibrant blue eyes wandering over the several diners and souvenir shops. Sofia paused. She was still very unaware of what Jun was really planning for her. Unfortunately, there were so many people around her that her empathy was basically a puddle of reactions and emotions. She'd decided to be done with changing her expression every three seconds and had detached herself.

"We were going shopping." Jun raised her brows.

"Eeh? Ren wanted to go shopping?" Sofia nodded slowly. "I'm so jealous. You must have quite the effect on him." She shrugged. "You really must forgive me for muddling up your day with him like this. Though you must understand, Ren is my only sibling and this... confuses me."

"This?" They passed by a tavern with another fight in the process.

"This... as in this thing Ren and you have. Do you understand?" Another nod. Sofia smiled. Jun was confused about how Ren was... doing what he was doing with the blonde. "I hope you don't mind me being too forward about it."

"Not at all. I understand why you're confused." Sofia managed a giggle. She supposed anyone who knew Ren was confused about the entire situation. Jun smiled.

"Well, in exchange, I'll go shopping with you instead." Bailong sweat dropped, and noticed that Sofia was smiling nervously. "So how did you two get together?" Bailong smiled. Jun was always one for gossiping. "Ooh this places looks nice."

They walked into a clothing store and Sofia retold the Halloween dance to Jun whilst she picked something out for her. A few times Jun went 'No! He didn't-- did he?' Sofia couldn't help but laugh at her reactions. She'd never had a girlfriend before. Jun hesitated when asking what kind of clothing she liked, but Hana was nice enough to explain the sort of colors and styles Sofia enjoyed.

"Ren dancing, I only wished I had been there for it. But I was still in China at the time." Sofia nodded in acknowledgement. "So... what is it you like about Ren?" Jun went through another rack and started making two separate piles. Sofia blushed.

"Oh, uhhm." Jun looked back and smiled.

"I suppose that's too forward-- here. Stand up." Jun took the clothes from one pile and loaded them up in Sofia's arms. "Try these on."

"All of them?" Sofia's eyes widened. She already heard so much about how outrageous the prices were in the Pache Village. How could Jun afford so much?

"Of course! We have to figure out what looks good. Now go on-- do you need help? No-no. Of course not. That really IS too forward." Another giggle and Sofia was inside the change room. "Alright, alright. Another question." Sofia heard Bailong laugh.

"Miss Jun, you're scaring her."

"No I'm not! It's just girl talk. Isn't that right, Sofia?" The blonde sweat dropped but laughed.

"Right. Right."

"See? She likes it." She heard someone step into the change room stall beside her. "Do you know what Ren likes about you?" Sofia nearly jumped. Jun was the one in the stall beside her. She paused.

"No... no I don't. No idea."

"You'd said you were an empath though." Sofia nodded to herself. She had explained to Jun about her ability whilst retelling Halloween night. The Chinese girl wasn't surprised.

"Yes, I am. But I only get quick impulse feelings. Nothing like specific thoughts. If he feels... attracted to me, " Hana giggled. She could almost hear Sofia blushing. "Then I end up feeling strong attraction feelings. I don't get the thoughts of WHY he feels that way."

Sofia walked out of the change room, adorned in a light grey jacket over top of her black shirt. Her lower half wore a long, grey, cotton skirt designed with red, intricate, native patterns. Jun stepped out in a long black dress with a tan, moccasin jacket over top. She glanced over at Sofia and smiled. "How do you like it?"

"It's a good fit, and the skirt is nice. Does it look good on me Hana?" The brunette nodded, hovering around the teen.

"Very. Tao Jun made a good choice."

"Alright, let's just pay for these at the counter and I'll take you back to Ren. I'm sure he's furious with me for stealing you. By the way--" Sofia glanced up to show she was listening. "I'm glad Ren's with you." The blonde stared, then lowered her head with a muttered 'so am I.' Jun threw an arm over Sofia's shoulder and led her to the cash. "And if you break his heart, I'll have your head."


	18. Watchful Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei DOES however. I own myself and all of my characters. That including Hana Horutari and Sofia Faust. I own the rights and plot to this fic. Don't sue-- 'cauuuuse... please?

Author's Note: It's seriously just dawning on me on how LONG this fanfic's gonna be. However, next chapter is the beginning to the climax bitches! At the end, I got really embarrassed and didn't go into too much detail .. For some reason writing stuff like that just makes me REALLY uncomfortable. Also-- just recently discovered Ren's father's name is actually Yuan. Soo yeah. There's a name change. Translations! 'Hergekommen' means 'come here', and 'guter junge' means 'good boy'. 'Wie?' means 'eh?'.

Ren let out a sigh, his breath almost showing up in the cold desert night. The moon hung high in the sky, bathing the land in silver. The shadows cast by the Pache Village loomed to three times their height and in the distance, Silva's coyote spirit, Silver Tail, howled at the white face.

Ren leaned against one of the Pache hotel buildings. His foot tapped against the ground impatiently and his arms folded in annoyance.

Why was Sofia always LATE? Okay, fine. She's blind. But her skeleton dog Frankensteiny was NOT. She'd told him once that the dog had a horrible sense of direction. Not an excuse. The second he caught sight of her he was going to let her have it!

Today, he had finished his first match in the Shaman King Tournament with Team Ren. A match no one was going to soon forget. Everyone had witnessed Chocolove's 'Wind of Laughter' in the fight. An amazing thing to see.

Ren smirked. But Tao Ren had been the real finale. His Over soul; his mana; his overall power. Everyone had to check their oracle pagers twice when they saw his numbers.

So why did he, Tao Ren, have to be the one to wait for Sofia? SHE should wait for HIM. Not the other way around. It was ridiculous. Though after a few more minutes (it felt much longer to him), Ren heard barks from down the road. He got to his feet and scowled over at who he saw.

"What the hell TOOK so long?" He snapped.

Frankensteiny led Sofia down the sandy road with his nose to the ground. As soon as the Over soul dog caught sight of him, he raced over barking. Sofia didn't even bother to try and run with him. She let go of the leash with a sweat drop.

"Oh you're lucky I came at all. Took me half an hour before I found something with your scent on it."

Ren was about to reply with a 'then you should've just let me take you from your house!'-- until he was jumped by the rottweiler. "Get off of me!" He shouted, pushing off the dog. It was becoming second nature to him whenever he saw Frankensteiny now. Sofia laughed and slowly traced her way over to his voice with her walking stick.

"He likes you."

"I don't give a crap. Get him off of me." Sofia grinned, got to her knees and whistled.

"Frankensteiny! Hergekommen!" The dog lifted his head at the call and trotted back over to his owner, earning a scratching under his ears. "Guuuter Juuungen!" Sofia cooed.

"It's a dog, not a baby." The blonde stood back up with a large smile.

"By the way, congratulations on your match today." Ren blinked, then smirked.

"It was nothing." Yes, even Tao Ren enjoyed bragging about himself from time to time. But, come on, him being awesome was common fact. People needed to understand that. "Did you gasp along with the crowd involuntarily?" He asked. Sofia just sweat dropped.

"Well, no. I couldn't go."

Ren fell over anime style, before quickly getting back to his feet with a stress vein. "What! Why the hell not!" The blonde shrugged.

"Remember? I can't handle crowds. I'd be throwing my lungs up if I were in that stadium during a match." The Chinese teen tensed with anger, before sighing. Right. He'd forgotten about that. He'd been so proud today and wrapped up in himself he hadn't even CONSIDERED the idea she might not be there for her health. "But my Vati told me about it when he and my Muti got home!" She reassured him. Sofia managed to reach out and grab his arm. "They told me how you finished the match off with one blow!"

"It was nothing." He repeated, only a little more deflated this time. What was the point bragging, when you were only being admired out of sympathy? Sofia pouted.

"Are you upset I couldn't go see you?" Ren grunted in reply and began to guide her up the steps along the Pache hotel building. This was their first night without the spirits or friends and family. He wasn't about to ruin it by being mopey. He was Tao Ren. Tao Ren did not mope!

"I'm still irritated you were late." He lied, going up another flight. He saw Sofia pause (realize what he was feeling), contemplate (figure out what and why he was feeling it), then smile (go along with it). "I know there are brail watches so don't give me crap about losing track of time." She laughed at that.

"I'm sorry."

The roof of the hotel building was not only flat, but shingled quite poorly. Ren actually wondered if it was safe for the both of them to be walking along it. He'd gone up here plenty of times with Bason, but would the roof hold for two people?

He walked up first, finding his footing on the shingles, then slowly helped Sofia up. There was a creak. Followed by a groan. But nothing moved; nothing cracked. Ren let out a deep breath and took another step. Still nothing. He smiled and looked straight out into the land. The couple and dog were basked in an aura of beautiful white light. Before them looked like a glowing, swirling fountain. Instead, it was the King of Spirits. The moon was a flashlight compared to what could be called 'God'. Ren and Sofia's shadows stretched over the roof, and even spilled upon the ground to appear fifty feet tall.

"Mein Gott." Ren looked back at her, his sight spotted from staring at the bright light from the King of Spirits. Sofia's eyes looked clouded, almost faint.

"Are you all right?" He asked. She held her head and closed her eyes.

" _I've... I've never been this close_." She slipped back into her German tongue, taking deep breaths. "_I didn't know..._" She looked to have lost her train of thought for a moment."..._I didn't know it_... _was so heavy._ " She gulped down, trying to stand up straight. Frankensteiny barked with worry. Ren cursed.

"_ Let's just go back down_." He said, taking hold of her other arm.

"Nein!" He blinked in surprise. Her fists were clenched and eyes winced, as if hurt from the light. She paused in concentration. "I can keep it under control."

"Stop being stubborn!" He snapped. "Just go back down, I won't think any less of--"

"It's not about you!" She shouted.

Silence blanketed over them. Echoes of her yell reverberated off the concrete walls, then, as if absorbed by the King of Spirits' form, died away completely. Ren's voice died within himself. He stared at her for a moment. She was glaring at the ground, trying to concentrate. But her eyes twitched with complications. Spirits were usually too weak to give off enough emotion to effect her. But millions at once were enough to cripple her. So many spirits, so much confusion, so much sadness, regret, peace, happiness. It was enough to drive anyone insane to even comprehend all of the separate minds at once brought into one.

She wanted to be strong enough. He could see that in how hard she was trying. She didn't want to be defeated. Ren's expression softened. He could understand what she was doing. That stubborn ass part of her brain was screaming 'Don't back down!' And it hurt to do so. But all Ren could do was watch her try to fight it.

All he could do was sta--

Ren whipped his head around to look behind them. Someone was there... He narrowed his eyes, trying to search for any kind of sign of movement. Someone was watching them. Tao instinct knew all. Someone was hiding, watching the two of them.

"Sofia-- we have to go." She wanted to object, but caught the warning in his tone. Her jaw tightened but she followed him as quick as she could. "Someone's watching us." Sofia's eyes widened.

"Wie? Who?" Ren shook his head, then remembered she couldn't see it.

"I don't know." They took down the stairs and Ren started to drag her back to his hotel with Frankensteiny at their heels. He had a hunch, and usually wouldn't have reacted so nervously if it was who he was thinking of. But with Sofia around, he wasn't going to take chances with HIM. "Just keep close to me."

"Hold on-- hold on Ren! Stop! I'm gonna trip!" The Tao boy came to a halt, Sofia bumping into him for stopping so fast. "Just-- calm down!"

"We need to go!" Sofia flinched, glaring at him. But her face soon changed to a sad one. Ren watched as she slowly went through a phase of expressions. Mostly depressed or angry ones. Was that still from the King of Spirits?

"I feel like saying...," She paused, trying to make sense of it. "... not good enough. Like... I'M not good enough. For you. I'm not good enough for you." Ren's eyebrows raised. Sofia was trying to figure out who was watching them. "It's like... protective and... possessive." Finally, an expression of realization came over here. "I know this! Your dad! It's your dad!-- Oh." Another realization came. That's why Ren had been worried.

At first, he felt angry for being right. Then it was quickly switched to anger and indignant. How DARE his Father pass judgement on her? How dare he decide who was good enough for him? After everything... after what had happened back at the mansion and he still thought it was his place to judge her so unfairly?

How DARE he bring her into this!

Then there was guilt. Ren should've seen this coming. Being involved with Sofia... he had instantly burdened her with his family hate. Of COURSE they would bring her up for judgement. Of course they would be curious and decide if she was good enough for him! They were Taos after all!

"Ren?" He glanced up. Sofia sweat dropped. "You're hurting my arm." He blinked and realized that he had been tensing his knuckles in anger. He loosened his grip.

"Let's just go." Ren started walking again, then glanced back at Sofia. His cheeks reddened and with a sigh. "Good... good job." He was impressed, despite how forced it sounded. She'd managed to figure out who was watching them sheerly on her empathy. She wasn't as weak as she thought she was.

Sofia smiled.

"Thanks." His eyes saddened. He had brought this upon her. Dating... obviously his father would've wanted to know everything about it. And what better way then to see her for himself?

Fortunately for them, the hotels were all together in one area of the Pache Village. Ren still had a feeling of being watched, but if he could at least get Sofia inside; he could take care of his Father then. "I'm... sorry." He said, after finally getting her onto the Funbari Onsen team's porch. Sofia just shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. Another time." Despite her words, Ren still felt guilty. Their one night to get away from everything and it'd been completely destroyed. Mostly because of him. "Ren?" He grunted. "I knew what I was getting into when I told you I liked you." He drew his head back in surprise. Sofia smiled. "I don't care what people think of me, let alone your dad." His fingers brushed against her wrist in the loose grip."Again, congratulations." He blinked.

Oh. That was right. He'd won a match today. The first match of the tournament.

A hand came to his cheek, and soon the thumb went to his lips. With it, Sofia managed to guide herself up to kiss him. Her eyes were closed, though it made no difference. Ren smiled inwardly. No doubt his father was watching them closely. If anything, that made the kiss even better.

Ren curled an arm around Sofia's waist, pulling her closer. The idea of making his father angry took away any kind of awkwardness the Chinese teen could have. He felt both of her hands hold his cheeks. His mouth opened and closed with practiced ease. Sofia went on her tip toes. Another arm wrapped around her. Breath spilled against his neck. Frankensteiny scratched at the door.

Sofia was the one to break away a mix of anger and giggles emitting from her. Though her face was clearly blushing from adrenaline. Even in the dark night he could make out the red cheeks. "He's so angry!" She giggled. She must've guessed what Ren was trying to do. "I think he might spank you."

The purplenette sweat dropped and smoothly unwrapped his arms from her. "Good night." He said, opening the door for her. Frankensteiny ran in to greet his owners in their futon. Sofia smiled and walked in.

"Don't rough him up too much Ren." She closed the door and Ren let out a deep sigh. He stepped off the porch and went down the street, straining his ears for sounds of movement. His Father was obviously doing his best to spy. As soon as he turned the corner, Ren stopped.

"How long are you going to keep hiding, Yuan?" He called out.

A few moments of silence.

Silver Tail howled once more that night.

A pair of foot steps came up from behind Ren. He glanced over his shoulder, the giant Over soul of Tao Yuan stood before him in full robes. He smiled, Ren scowled. "Now, now Lian. There's no need for such a dirty look."

"There is when you do something as dirty as spying." His father shrugged with a sheepish grin, obviously not sorry or guilty about anything he had done that night. "What the hell do you want?" An arched eyebrow came to meet the derogatory tone, but Yuan kept smiling.

"Just thought I'd get a better look at the girl my Lian had taken such an interest to."

"Because trying to kill her before wasn't a close enough inspection?" Yuan frowned at that.

"Lian." He paused, obviously trying to let the Tao teen calm down. "You didn't honestly think I'd turn a blind eye on the blind girl, did you?" The pause to calm Ren down didn't help much. He whirled around to face the Giant Over soul, whom was now stroking his beard.

"It's none of your business!"

"To be honest, I was thoroughly surprised when I first saw you two alone at the mansion. Letting someone else tend your wounds. I don't think I've ever seen you so open about a weakness." Ren couldn't tell if Yuan was insulting him about it. He was still smiling, but not in the old sly way. "And then DANCING." Ren sweat dropped and a few stress veins pulsed on his fist.

"Have you gossiped about our entire relationship!"

At that, Yuan's eyes widened considerably. "Relationship?" Ren froze. What had he unleashed! "That's quite a strong word to use for someone so young of age." Before Ren could reply, a large hand was put up to stop him. "You really are growing, Lian." The smile... it wasn't a sly smirk or an evil grin. It wasn't sickeningly innocent to hide an abusive hand. It was a proud smile.

"Why are you here?" Ren asked. His limbs fell to his side, he was calming down. Tao Yuan took in a deep breath.

"To support my son." He hesitated with his next words. Though they became confident. "Whether he succeeds, fails, or has his heart broken by a blind German girl who can barely walk with out tripping."

Ren's hands tensed in frustration, he then turned on his heel and marched off down the street. "Get away from me!"


	19. The Breaking Point

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, including Hana Horutari and Sofia Faust. I own the plot and rights to this fic. I also owned a pie, but me and my friend ate it /pout/

Author's Note: Yaay now it's gets exciting xD! Remember, italics means other language! By the way, I so totally don't have anything against Americans ;. The 'so TOTALLY' thing is actually from how /I/ talk xD. I talk like that all the time. For translations, 'Nicht gut glaubend?' means 'not feeling well?'

"_Sofia, you should eat something_." No answer came from the blonde at the counter. Faust leaned over her, dragging his fingers through her hair. She was resting her head against the counter top, her arms folded to add some kind of cushion. "Nicht gut glaubend?" A small shake of the head for a 'no'. Faust pouted over his daughter and gave her a small peck on her head before going back to sit with Eliza. Hana hovered by the teenager's side, her eyes dimmed with worry.

"No sleep?" The brunette asked. A pause, then a slow nudge of the head against her arm for a 'yes'. "Have you been taking your medicine?" Her voice lowered down to just a whisper. The blonde remained still. Hana sighed. "You shouldn't do that." A hand came out from under one of Sofia's elbows and popped up the middle finger. Hana rolled her eyes, but remained quiet after that.

Yoh leaned against one of the counters, waiting for a plate of food to come his way. Silva passed by and Yoh leaned in and stood on his tip toes. "Heey, how about throwing in something deep fried?" The native arched a brow at the request. He glanced over to their table, where Anna sat writing out more training schedules for the next two weeks. Silva sweat dropped and backed off from Yoh.

"There's no way I'm rising against Anna."

"You coward!"

"Look who's talking!"

"Shut up and get out of the way. I still have to order." Yoh glanced over his shoulder before pouting.

"But I'm still waiting, Ren. So do you." The Chinese teen scowled.

"Taos don't wait! And you're doing nothing but arguing over junk food." Yoh slapped a hand over Ren's mouth, 'SHHHH'ing him loudly. Anna's eyes slipped up to look at them. Yoh smiled nervously, waving over at her. Ren knocked him off and shoved him aside. "Get your hands off of me!"

"Outta my way! The Champ is here!" Ren and Yoh turned, only to see a teenage boy, girl and large form of a man stroll into the restaurant. The teenager plopped at a table with a wild grin on his face. Though beat up, the team all looked proud and happy. They'd obviously just gotten back from a victory match. "Tammy! Go get us some celebratory food! We so TOTALLY deserve some after that!" The teenage boy exclaimed loudly.

He couldn't have been older then sixteen, only a few inches short of Jun. He had long, light, brown hair with bangs practically hiding the honey colored eyes from view. Tanned skin was showed off on his face and arms. His neck was covered with fish netting with a cris cross pattern. Adorned upon his check was a dark, brown, khaki vest and a black t-shirt worn beneath. Long, black, baggy jeans flowed to hide his shoes, whilst a pair of whips were coiled on either side of his hips. To top off the safari look, The teenager wore large, dark leather gloves.

The girl, her hair dark and taken into a side pony tail, had the same kind of jeans and fish netting. Only her top was a rainbow colored, sleeveless shirt and attached to her right arm was a large, metal fist with red, steel knuckles and fully functional jointed fingers at the end. It started at her forearm and ended just below her knee.  
At the boy's demand, the girl Tammy nodded and walked up to Yoh and Ren in line. The boy eased back in his chair with a loud sigh.

"I think a party is in order! Don't you think so, Gunter?" The ox of a man with pale, bald skin and clothing similar to the boy's, minus the fishnets, nodded in agreement. "Damn right a party is in order!" He got to his feet and held his arms wide open. "EVERYONE HERE... is so TOTALLY invited!" It was only 10 AM in the morning so only a few tables managed to clap and cheer. The rest were either too tired or didn't care.

Ren rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Americans. Does he have to be so LOUD about it?" Yoh shrugged, clapping for the teen.

"Who cares. Parties are always nice." Ren shook his head and looked back at the teen, then noticed the blonde sitting at the bar with her head against the counter. Her hands was clutching her arm tightly with white knuckles. Silva brought out Yoh's food on a tray and the brunette took it back to his and the Funbari Onsen's table.

Ryu had already made his way into the line and into a conversation with the Tammy girl.

"It was really hard considering how long the fight went on. But we TOTALLY had them from the beginning!" The boy boasted, sitting on top of the back rest to his chair. "And did you see them after we'd beat them? I thought they were ACTUALLY going to cry! I REALLY did. I almost felt bad! But meh, they're fault!"

Something slipped. Her nails dug into her arm.

"At first, they looked REALLY tough. I mean, like, STARVED-BEAR tough. But to be honest, NOTHING compared to us. Especially near the end. We TOTALLY made a come back and they were NOTHING."

Something cracked. The fabric over her jacket were clenched between her fingers.

"After that battle, we are ready for anything! Right Gunter?" The teenage boy smacked the older man's shoulder to grab his attention. "Right? Nobody can touch us! 'Cause we are team Potmos and NOTHING can stand in our way! Right Gunter?"

"Shut. UP." A voice gritted out, just loud enough to be heard over the restaurant chatter. At first, the teenager was the only one to look up. Sofia had her hands pressed against the counter ledge, staring forward at the wall opposite to her. The brunette arched a brow.

"What was that?" Her hand tightened its grip.

"Oh I'M sorry. After all that bragging your ability to hear anyone besides your own voice must've DIED. I said, SHUT UP!" Her hand slammed against the counter, only emphasizing her voice. Most of the restaurant had gone silent now. Especially the Funbari Onsen and Team Ren table.

After a long pause, only lasting a few seconds, the boy slipped off of his chair and walked over to her. The face and movements as calm and cool as ever.

"If you have something to say to me, little girl, let me see your face." The German girl turned gently on her stool, her eyes narrowed to a glare at the ground.

"If you have something to say to ME, BACK UP so you don't rub off any of that idiocy on me!" Sofia shoved against his chest, but before she could retract her hand he caught and held it.

"Don't touch her!" Both Ren and Faust rose up. The teenager didn't seem to notice.

"What's your damage!" He yelled straight at Sofia, gripping her wrist tighter. Sofia continued to scowl away from him. "And look at me when I talk to you!" From the happily boasting teen from a minute ago, there was a severe change to his attitude. The blonde's left eye twitched. She had to guess where his face was. Though he made it easier now that she had an idea of how he was holding her wrist and in which hand. She turned her head up.

"My DAMAGE? My DAMAGE is that I have a splitting head-ache after no sleep and some ass has decided to stand on a podium to describe how great he is! My DAMAGE is that the LAST thing this town needs is another idiot who already thinks he's won the TOURNAMENT. And my DAMAGE is that your stupidity is making me SICK. Now back UP!" Sofia drew out her walking stick and aimed to snap it against his neck. The teenager caught and leaned in close.

"Do you wanna take this outside?" He gritted out through a clenched jaw

"Is that all you can think of to say?" She whispered, unphased by both of her attacks being stopped. He grinned.

"I'm not hearing a no." Sofia winced. The pause was where Ren and Faust came in.

"Sofia, just calm down and come to the table." Her father advised, taking an arm over her to try and pull her away. Ren, however, took onto the offensive with the teenager. He brought out his kwan dao and aimed for the American's neck.

"Touch her again. I dare you." He said darkly. The brunette simply smiled, letting go of Sofia's wrist and walking stick. "Smart move."

"Well hey, if she's too scared to fight her own battles, I won't bother." The blonde girl's eyes widened.

"EXCUSE you? Get back here and FIGHT!" She would've leapt off of the stool had her Father's arm not still been wrapped around her waist. "Let me go!" She shouted, trying to wriggle free. The teenager grinned whilst Faust pulled her back.

"Calm DOWN Sofia."

"NO! Let me teach him a LESSON! I can fight him!" Finally, an elbow pounded against the doctor's gut and Sofia ran back to her stool, picking up a duffle bag near the stool legs. "You want to fight, don't you!" Unfortunately, Sofia was staring at least a meter away from the American, and she'd used her walking stick to find her stool again. The honey eyes blinked a few times before wincing with laughter.

"You're BLIND!" The teen bent his front down to lean his hands on his knees. "Th-the bl--bl," He broke into another fit of hysterics." The blind girl wa-ants to fight, huh?" Sofia's face went scarlet. Ren could practically hear the blood vessel pulse on her forehead.

"Scared?" She growled. He was still laughing when he decided to answer.

"Maybe if you were able to SEE, you'd know I was so totally laughing my ass off at you!"

"I'm not hearing a no." The teenager took a deep breath, another arched brow at her form. She was shaking. He grinned, placing a hand over one of the whip coils. "Well!"

"You wanna fight?" He nodded. "Okay, let's fight. Let's go, little girl." He passed by her, grabbing her by the hood of her jacket and dragging her out. Only Faust managed to catch her into his arms again.

"Sofia just leave it be!" She slapped his hands away, baring her walking stick as a threat.

"Don't touch me!" 


	20. Slashed Wide Open

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Hana Horutari and Sofia Faust. I own the plot and rights to this fic... Yeah that's it. I'm hoping to get Beast wars on DVD though :DDD.

Author's Note: Yaay. Things are getting exciting now. And soon this fanfic will end. Jeezus this was quick. And thank you to Feline who gave me a name for the teenager . Translations! 'Ruhe' means 'quiet!', 'Hölle Jagdhund' means 'Hell Hound', and 'holen sie!' means 'fetch!'. 'Seda' and 'Bala' is Portugese for 'Silk' and 'Bullet'.

"Don't touch me!" Sofia slapped away her father's hand. But before Faust could even look shocked, she was dragged out into the street and shoved out of the teenager's hand. The guests in the restaurant emptied out in a herd to watch the fight. Ren had to actually wait until there was room for him to shove people out of his way and see what was going on.

"My name's Darian." He heard the teenager call out. Ren snarled, trying his hardest to not stab through the crowd. Yoh and HoroHoro were behind him to just make sure of that. "What's yours?"

"Ren calm down, she'll be fine." Yoh reassured him, holding on to the Tao's shoulder. "She can handle herself, remember?" HoroHoro managed to grab Ren's kwan dao and guide the two through the crowd. Ren's grip tightened over the weapon. He didn't CARE if she could handle herself. He didn't care if she could beat him with two hands tied behind her back! He wouldn't DARE let someone touch her.

"Why do you care?" He heard Sofia's voice above the muttering and cheers of the crowd. An opening split through the wall of shaman. HoroHoro spotted it and darted for it.

"I can see them!"

Darian stood a few meters apart from Sofia. Thumbs fiddling with the loops on his jeans. The two whips poised and ready in his fingers. Sofia stared at the ground, duffle bag at her feet and walking stick stabbed in the ground beside her. He grinned, shrugging with casualty in his tone.

"I just figure I should know the name of the girl's funeral I'd be going to."

With one flick of his wrists, the whips were cracked out. The aura of over soul danced along the leather lines. Darian smiled. Sofia smirked. "It's only polite."

Ren glared up at the sixteen-year-old. "Leave her alone!" Yoh and HoroHoro sighed in annoyance. Darian arched a brow, side-glancing the Tao teenager. "If you want a fight, I'll be happy to kick your ass. But don't even THINK of hurting her." The honey-colored eyes blinked a few times at him.

"Oohh, you her boyfriend 'er something?" Both Ren's and Sofia's face flushed red. He sweatdropped before taking another step forward.

"It doesn't matter who I am! You touch her and I'll have you face down on the ground in a second!" Darian stared deadpan before turning back to Sofia. "Don't you look away from me!"

"Hey, how 'bout calling off your attack dog, enh?" He shouted. The blonde tensed up, her cheeks red.

"Ruhe, Ren!" She gritted out. "Stay out of it!" Ren went to reply, wanting to say that he wasn't going to let her start meaningless fights with complete strangers. He WANTED to say that, but before he could, Sofia was already on the ground. The crowd gasped.

"Did anyone see that?"

"What hit her?"

"Did she just faint?"

"Something definitely hit her."

Darian smiled, fingers tapping against his whips. "Whoops, finger slipped." He quipped, walking up to her. Ren's eyes widened, before narrowing down to a threatening scowl. Luckily, Yoh, HoroHoro and Chocolove all grabbed his limbs before he could move.

"Ren. Calm. Down." HoroHoro said, keeping his grip over Ren's arm and neck.

"Let me go!"

Sofia sat up, her arms and chin limp. Darian rolled his eyes. "It's totally your own fault for letting your guard down, you know." The blonde raised her head to face him, two slashes along her left cheek with blood slowly seeping from the tiny openings. "Uh oh, you're bleeding." He gasped with fake surprise. Darian kneeled down and brushed his thumb against her cheek.

"Don't touch me." She muttered darkly under her breath.

"Oh, but you're just so totally pretty. No punch though."

One hand clung to his wrist, whilst the other gripped at his neck. "I said don't TOUCH me!" She screamed. Another gasp from the crowd. Ren's eyes widened considerably. Darian smirked and stretched out his free hand. He cracked one of the whips. Her eyes flinched.

"You missed one, little girl." The leather sliced through her other cheek, making her fall on her side in recoiled pain. The hands went to her face. Darian stood back up and drew out his other whip once more. "Now it's totally silly little mistakes like that, that cause accidents. Safety first."

She was thrown back again, at least a meter in the air before rolling across the gravel and dirty. New wounds showed upon her arms and face. This time, the crowd got a good look at the over soul upon the whips. Leeches twirled and spun around the leather cord of their medium. Dark with red spots along their back. Their bellies covered with a dark pink.

Sofia rose to her feet, though looking ready to fall back down. "Good girl, Seda." She furrowed her brow, taking a deep breath. One of the cords slid back up to the brunette, curling around his leg affectionately. Darian grinned. "The totally great thing about leeches is that they keep the blood flowing and from clotting with a chemical called 'hirudin'."

Another slash across her arm came from the other whip. Darian merely chuckled. "Bala's sure taken a liking to your blood. But see, this is what happens when you blindly challenge people stronger than you." He shrugged. "All I need to do is keep going and going and going until the pain is too much for you. You'll slowly break down."

"Until the pain is too much for me?" A small laugh emitted from the small blonde. Her grin grew. "You think you can comprise a strategy sheerly upon PAIN? On ME?" She lifted her head up, grinning widely with a sadistic curve to her eyes. "I haven't felt pain in years, DARIAN. So don't you DARE lecture me upon pain." Darian arched a brow as she reached behind her head and tugged at the pony tail holding up some of her hair. "Don't you put yourself above me." The tresses of blonde fell around her face. Ren, HoroHoro, Yoh and Chocolove stared in shock. "Don't you DARE assume I'm weak!"

She looked, in almost every way, like an exact replica of Faust. The doctor sighed, dipping his head down. "Oh dear."

Darian just chuckled. "So, little girl's got some punch then." The pale blue eyes glared forward. He cracked one of his whips, her knuckles flexed. "What'chya gonna do? Are you even a SHAMAN, lit--" He was cut off by a sudden blow to his head from behind. "Aagh! What the hell!" He whirled around, expecting to see Ren or her father standing behind him with their weapons out. But Ren was still being held back by Yoh and the others, and her father had disappeared from the crowd. All he really noted was that the duffle bag was opened. He glared and turned back around.

And was suddenly on the ground with a giant paw against his chest.

A giant dog stood over him, only just a meter or so above the Patch Restaurant. The fur was mostly the jet black. The rest, on its long and grinning muzzle and the belly covered most of the protruding, black, rib cage was a deep red. The ears were pointed high and along its back stood jagged, red thorns starting at the back of the head. Its tiny, white pupils glowered down at Darian from beneath its massive paw. The tail was pure, black bone that wagged threateningly from right to left. Strong enough that it made a small breeze for the crowd below.

Atop of the head stood Sofia, gripping a belted leash that tied between the large dog's jaw. The fangs that poked out from the lips couldn't have been bigger then a small stool each. Deep pants were heard.

The group stared up in disbelief. "Since when did Sofia know how to make a giant over soul!" HoroHoro asked incredulously. Partly in fear, partly in shock. Ren's voice had left him.

"Did you teach her, Fau-- Faust?" The doctor had disappeared from the crowd. Yoh bit his lip. HoroHoro glanced behind them.

"Where'd he go!"

"Faust must've taught her." Yoh flinched at the sight of Darian beneath the giant dog's foot again. "He must've wanted her to protect herself I guess." Ren furrowed his brows in confusion. She wouldn't, would she?

"That is one MESSED UP over soul. Looks like something out of a vampire movie." Chocolove grimaced. No jokes. Ren's hand twitched. He had to help. He had to make sure she didn't do anything she'd regret. Then again, would she really regret doing it?

Sofia smirked wildly. "Mein hölle jagdhund." She said affectionately, leaning down and rubbing the top of the dog's head. "Can you still HEAR me, Darian?" She yelled. The teenager was concentrating on freeing his arms. "If you CAN, I'd like to give YOU a lecture on pain." She tugged at the leash twice. Frankensteiny lowered his head to stare down at the brunette. Sofia stood tall. "You see, pain is merely a message. Are you LISTENING, Darian?" She tugged once on the leash and the large dog pressed down against him. He cried out. She shivered with a smile. "Good. Like I was saying, pain is a message. A message from the nerves to the brain, basically shouting out--" Frankensteiny pressed down again.

"AAaagh!" He cringed. She smiled.

"Yes, that'd be the word." She gripped onto one of the thorns behind her and held it tightly beside her. With one tug, the paw lifted up off of Darian. His left arm looked broken. Though it was only a few seconds of relief before the dog batted him away down the street. "Holen sie!" She shouted. The dog took off after the body, skidding to a halt to nudge him with his nose a few times. Sofia smiled, shivering from the waves of pain from the body below. "The reason your plan would fail on ME, is because I'm able to turn off the nerves that send the message. I'm an EMPATH Darian, did you know that?" No answer, merely moans of pain. "Oh no, that's right. You didn't. See? This is what happens when you blindly challenge people who are stronger than you." She mocked. "And I will make you learn that lesson PROPERLY."

Ren glared up at her. "I won't let her."


	21. Battered Beauty

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei DOES. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust, Hana Horutari, Team Potmos and Frankensteiny's oversoul. I drew them so NEH. Art Copy rights go with writing copy rights! Take THAT.

Author's Note: If you would like to see a picture of Sofia, all whacked out and such, go here ((http/ I'm such a shameless advertiser xD. Translations! 'Unten' means 'down', 'klinge' means 'sword', 'wie' means 'eh', 'fluch' means 'damn'

"Sofia!" The blonde perked her head. Her eyes were wide with awareness of what went on around her, despite the blood still trailing down her face and neck. "Sofia, get DOWN here!" Sofia's eye twitched into a glare, but she quickly wiped it away with a smirk.

"Unten, Frankensteiny." She quipped by his ears. The Hell Hound lowered his head and allowed her to slide off, back onto the sandy road. "What is it, Ren?" The Tao teen clenched at his kwan dao and sprinted up to her. Yoh and HoroHoro sweat dropped, soon trailing after him. "Did you have something to say?" She asked, her voice dripped with fake innocence.

"Dammit Ren! Give a little warning when you do stuff like that!" HoroHoro snapped. He glanced over at Sofia and flinched. She had to have been the epitome of scary right then. Especially with Darian's body just a few feet behind her. Ren stared at her for a few moments, suddenly wondering just WHO he was talking to. She arched a brow at the silence.

"Well? If you've got nothing for me to hear, I'll go back to my business."

"No!" He barked. "I--I don't even know where to BEGIN! What the hell happened? Why would you do this? What's WRONG with you!" Her pale blue eyes narrowed, pointed just between him and Yoh.

"You don't approve?"

"No I don't APPROVE. This isn't right Sofia, you've got to stop this-!" He grabbed her wrist pulling her away a bit. She scowled up at him.

"YOU? YOU want to tell ME what's right? Tao REN?" She tugged her arm, bringing him closer. "Your whole FAMILY killed thousands for sport. YOU yourself used to laugh at the death of another and you're telling ME what's right?" She threw her head back and slapped Ren across the face."What right do you have to tell me what's right?" She spat, turning back to her Hell Hound.

His hand released hers out of pure shock. His cheek reddened and his eyes wide. Yoh and HoroHoro stared, dumbstruck at the scene. Finally, Yoh looked back at her.

"So what reason do YOU have to kill? Just because it's only person doesn't make it any better then a thousand." The blonde bombshell stopped at the foot of Darian's body. She glanced over her shoulder with a sadistic grin.

"Who says it's only one?" Both Yoh and HoroHoro took in a quick breath. Her arms shivered, taking in the frightened reactions. She then turned back to Darian. "Well, well. How ARE we, Darian?" No answer. Breath still seeped in shallow gasps. The American teen was on the brink of life. Sofia's foot poked his head. "Oh Ren! You were wrong, by the way." She called out. Ren's hands twitched. "I DO have a reason to kill."

Sofia kicked full force at Darian's head, making the rest of the crowd flinch. "I have EVERY reason to kill!" She shouted, another kick. "You know full well, how I feel about being judged for being blind. Don't you Ren!" Another kick, Darian was bleeding from his nose and mouth. "How I feel about being called weak for being blind!" Sofia rose her hand up. "Klinge!" She yelled. Frankensteiny picked Sofia's walking stick out from the ground with his teeth. He brushed the handle by her outstretched hand, letting her grip it. "And you know how much I HATE that, don't you Ren!"

"That's enough!" Whatever Sofia had planned to do with her walking stick, the crowd never found out. Darian's team members, Tammy and Hunker had finally made their appearance into the fight. Tammy had Sofia held tightly between her giant, mechanical fingers and palm. Hunker was currently trying to keep Frankensteiny at a safe distance, his head adorned with a large OX helm. "He's down, you win!" Tammy shouted, glaring up at the German girl. "So leave him be!"

The thumb to the metal fist tipped Sofia's head back and the fingers kept her arms and walking stick against her body. The only things free were legs, barely able to reach Tammy's neck. It was just then that Faust ran back into the crowd, suitcase in his hand. His eyes widened at the new scene playing out. The crowd began to cheer for the joining team members.

"There's no reason for you to keep fighting."

Hunker charged against the dog, knocking heads together and pushing against each other. Ren, Yoh and HoroHoro stood together, watching as the crowd started to disperse. The fight was over. No one had really won the battle. Darian would be brought to one of the nursing stations in the Pache Village.

Ren furrowed his brows. What would they do with Sofia? Would she end up like the villains in most stories? Punished? Banished from the village? His eyes dimmed. Maybe... maybe that would be best.

"Aagh!" The others looked up. Sofia had raised her feet up and dug her heels into Tammy's face. "STOP it!" She screamed. Hunker looked over to see what the commotion was about, giving Frankensteiny the chance to jump over him. After shaking Sofia around a bit to get her feet away, Tammy dropped the blonde to cover her eyes. She fell, only to drop down onto the head of her Hell Hound.

"Thought I was done, WIE?" Sofia called, sliding down to rest her back against the first spike at Frankensteiny's neck. She smiled, clinging to the fur in front of her and striking the air above her with her walking stick. "How silly we all are."

"Fluch!" Faust cursed, rushing out into the street. "Oi! Ren!" The Tao teen whirled around at the voice. His amber eyes narrowed to slits.

"Where the hell have you been!" He barked, marching up to the doctor. Yoh and HoroHoro jogged up to them. "When we actually NEED you, you decide to disappear! How could you just desert her!" Faust kneeled down and unclipped his suitcase.

"I LEFT to get this." He held up a syringe needle, full of an orangey yellow liquid. He tapped the siding gently. "It's a sedative. In her state, it's the only sure fire thing that'll take her out." Yoh nodded.

"That's great, but how 'bout an explanation?" Faust shook his head.

"Later, there's no time. Right now we have to inject this into her." He offered it to the trio, Ren being the only one to snatch it from the German's hand.

"Where do I put it?" He asked, throwing aside his kwan dao to the ground. Faust closed up the suitcase and got back to his feet.

"The arm is the best place. If not there, the stomach. It'll take about 30 seconds to knock her out completely. That's if she puts up a fight." Faust added quickly. HoroHoro 'tched' at the last part.

"I think we can count on that." Yoh turned to Ren with concern.

"Ren, are you sure you--" Before the brunette could finish, Tammy flew above them, skidding across the sandy road. Ren took off. Yoh sweat dropped. "Guess that's a yes. Faust, I think there's a guy you should take a look at." He jerked his thumb over to Darian, who was trying to stand with the help of some of the other Shamans.

Ren bounced from the ground to the auning of a Patch Souvenire shop. From there, he could see Sofia. She had retaken her spot upon Frankensteiny's head, smiling wickedly to no one in particular. He glared, his cheek throbbed, his hand tightened, and his knees bent.

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want in any part of this. Sofia was the last person he wanted to cause any harm to. Despite her abusive words. Despite her insults, her slap across his face, despite the fact that she might've changed from the person he had... admitted himself to. Despite everything she had done, he didn't want to hurt her.

But then again, he was probably the only one who could take her down.

"Sofia!"

The blonde's fingers tapped against her walking stick. Frankensteiny came to a halt, allowing her to move freely without the risk of wobbling over. Slowly, she pouted. "What now, Ren?" Ren stood upon the tip of Frankensteiny's long snout. "You seem much more confident this time." His glare slipped onto her face for a moment, before disappearing behind her smirk. "Have you come to kill me?"

"Oh I wish." She was right. He was more confident this time. He knew exactly what he had to do. Therefore, sarcastic remarks were allowed. "However, your father brought me something just as good." A blonde brow arched. Ren took two steps forward.

"My Father...? Oh." The perterbed expression smoothed out into a smirk. "You don't have the guts."

"I'm a Tao." He quipped, taking another step forward. "All I HAVE are guts." Sofia laughed. It was nothing like the sniggers or giggles she used to make with him around. "I don't know what made you this way, Sofia." He almost felt foreign, calling the name he'd become so fond of for a girl so evil. "Nor do I really care. But I assure you, you need this."

"Ahh and I assure YOU Ren." Sofia whipped out her walking stick, pulling back to the plastic shell sheath to fold down at the handle. "This will hurt you, more then it hurts me." She pursed her lips with a kiss, before sliding one foot back to gain stance. Ren sighed, closed his eyes and said,

"I'm sorry." Before launching towards her.

The two collided, both wincing at the impact. Sofia took the syringe just below her ribs. Ren took the sword just above his heart. Ren cried out, clutching the fabric of her shirt at her back to hang on. He willed himself to press down on the plunger, injecting the fluid into her stomach.

"Fluch." She cursed, leaning her forehead against his chest. Though she managed a smile. "I wish I could die with you Ren." She whispered. He gulped down. He didn't want to look down. Feeling the needle like sword inside him was bad enough. Seeing it would probably make him sick. "I'll bring you..." Her words trailed off. He watched her eyes close. She fell against him.

And he felt them both fall together.


	22. The Massacre at Burgenhausen

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust, Hana Horutari, Team Potmos and Franky's Oversoul. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own the plot and rights to this fanfic.

Author's Note: AAH! It's almost coming to an end! AAH! Translations! 'Wie' means 'eh' and remember! Italics means a different language!

Ren flinched. Then he winced. His chest was hurting and something bright had splayed itself over his eyes. He let out a small groan of annoyance before opening his eyes. He found himself in one of the Patch hotel rooms, on a rather stiff futon and with the sun beaming down through one of the windows. '_What the hell_?' He thought to himself. He went to sit up then quickly lied back down. "Aagh." He gritted out. His chest was hurting a LOT now.

He looked down, only to see his chest adorned with gauze wrapping. He blinked a few times. He furrowed his brows. When had THAT gotten there?

Oh, wait.

That was how.

Ren sighed, forcing himself to sit up properly. He propped his weight on his hands and lifted his upper body up. The left side of his chest flexed in pain, throbbing from the stab wound. He let out a breath, scratching gently at the gauze.

He had expected himself to die. His eyes dimmed. Tao Ren had thought he was going to die. Though why shouldn't he have? He'd been stabbed in the heart. Didn't that constitute as instant death? Ren leaned his head back. He should've felt rejoiced at the fact. He had survived and would be able to continue fighting. He should've felt SOMETHING. But honestly, Ren just didn't have it in himself to feel anything but depressed.

What did he do about Sofia?

Faust wandered into the room. His eyes widened at the sight of Ren sitting up. "Oh, you finally woke up wie?" He walked over and sat by Ren's futon. The Chinese teen nodded. "You're lucky, your heart and lungs were just barely grazed from the stab. If off by an inch, I doubt I'd be talking to you right now."

"Where's Sofia?" Faust blinked, then smiled kindly.

"How sweet. She stabs you, and the first thing you ask about when you wake up is how she is." Was Faust insulting him or complimenting him? Ren honestly couldn't tell with that look on his face. Maybe it was both. "No worries. She's in the hotel next door." Ren nodded in acknowledgment, averting his gaze. Faust arched a brow. "That's all you want to know?" Ren glanced back up. "I was expecting an army of questions." Ren glared.

"If you know I'm curious then why not just TELL me!" Faust smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Just. Tell. Me!" Faust paused, his smile fading. Ren drew his head back. The blonde sighed, folding his hands in his lap. The purplenette looked down. "I want to know, Faust." Faust closed his eyes with a nod.

"I know."

* * *

"Where is she!" Yoh, HoroHoro, Chocolove and Manta looked up. Jun marched onto the porch, fists clenched and eyes narrowed. Bailong dutifully followed behind, though his faced crossed with worry. "Where's Sofia?" The four boys' foreheads went blue with fear.

"Jun, calm down." Yoh said, holding his hands up defensively. The green-haired teenager scowled down at him and pushed passed them to walk inside. "Jun wait!"

"Leave me alone!" She shouted. HoroHoro went to rush in, but Bailong cut in front.

"Bailong, make sure she doesn't do anything too rash!" Yoh yelled.

The door shut on the four boys. Dead silence crept from within the room. Manta furrowed his brows. "You don't think she'd sick Bailong on Sofia, do you?" Yoh gulped down with a small shrug. HoroHoro and Chocolove were the same way. Manta bit his lip.

"I've never seen her that angry before." HoroHoro muttered. Finally, sound erupted.

"How could you!" Jun screamed. A loud SMACK came next, making the group flinch. "How could you do that to him!" Bailong called out at her, then the sounds of scraping and shuffling against the wooden floors were heard.

"Jun stop!" Came Bailong's voice. Finally, the door swung open with the jiang-si dragging Jun out of the room. He had his arms tight wrapped around her upper torso. "Stop this Jun and calm down!"

"Let me go!" The four boys stared incredulously as Bailong physically forced Jun down the street.

* * *

Faust bowed his head down. "To explain what happened the other day... I'll have to tell you a story that happened a few years ago. It happened a year or so after Eliza died. Sofia was eleven."

* * *

"_Uugh, my head_." Faust put a hand to his forehead, trying to cease the massive migraine starting up. He was leaning over three different journals, all from his ancestor; the original Faust. The almost-broken-but-couldn't-afford-anything-better lamp just barely lit up the pages, making Faust having to squint to read.

He hadn't slept properly in three months. This entire month he had spent most nights digging up graves at the cemetary. Last night he had done it in a rain storm. Obviously not the best idea, he'd been feeling faint and dizzy ever since he'd gotten home.

"_Vatti.._." Faust looked up clutching his head. Sofia scowled from the doorway, her eyes flinching gently. He could tell she was getting a migrane just being around him. He smiled innocently.

"_What is it_?"

"_I'm getting sick from being in the room BESIDE you. Go lie down._" She demanded. Faust sweat dropped before turning back to the books.

"_Hold on, I'm almost done here_." She traced her way over to him and grabbed his shoulder.

The two of them had been living in a small house in a forest, just a mile or so from the village of Burghausen, for the past four months. They'd lost their house when Faust had lost the will to do his job. Fortunately, the hut had been abandoned and with what little money they had, they bought a generator to keep some of the electricity going.

"_Now, Vatti_." She urged. Faust sighed, running a hand over the pounding forehead; that only made him dizzier. He doubted he'd get much sleep, but the prospect of lying down sounded invited. Faust flicked off the lamp, stood up and walked over to the bed. He felt faint just from walking. "_Lie down and don't you dare get up before the sun is._" Sofia threatened. Faust smiled snuggled against the pillow. She reminded him of Eliza.

Banging of wood sounded off in the old house. Faust and Sofia glanced up. There was aggravated knocking against the door.

"_Open up, Faust!_" Called an angry voice. Others joined in. At least a crowd of others."_We know you're in there and we know what you've done_!" Faust's eyes widened. The villagers. There was an angry mob of villagers at their door."_Get out or we're coming in_!" Sofia backed up, clinging to the chair by the desk.

"_What do we do?_" She hissed. "_They'll kill you_!" Faust quick got back to his feet, unfortunately, that worsened his dizziness. He stumbled back before tripping over one of his books. Faust fell to the floor, the overwhelming feeling of faint swept him. He blacked out.

* * *

"The villagers had found out I was digging up their family from their graves. I needed to, to practice the necromancy." Faust opened his eyes, flicking his thumbs with his hands in his lap. Ren leaned forward.

"What happened?" He asked. Faust smiled calmly.

"They were massacred." Ren's breath halted. No... no she couldn't have. "When I woke up finally, Sofia was sitting at my side shaking. Behind her were the bodies of the men from town, including skeletons that had fallen upon them." Faust paused. "She was drenched."

Ren let out a deep breath, slowly taking in the story; what Sofia had done; who she had killed; who she really was.

"What happened today was a glimpse of what happened then. The reason there's such a time lapse is because I quickly had Sofia medicated after that incident." The purplenette arched a brow in curiosity. "Sofia suffers from Mania, only in a... heightened form. Usually, patients go through a process of dropped emotions. When unmedicated, Sofia goes straight to the final symptom; psychotic mania. When that happens, she becomes a completely different person."

Faust lifted his head to face Ren. "What do you think of her now, Tao Ren?" The Chinese teen was silent. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'd like to THINK for two seconds without you interrupting first of all." Ren snapped, looking back down at his lap. Faust nodded, glancing away from the teenager. Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek. He really had no idea WHAT to think or do. All that kept going through his head were the words 'they were massacred'. He dipped his head down. He wanted to hear what Sofia had to say about this. He wanted to know what she thought about it.

Hell, he just wanted to see her.

"I want to talk to Sofia."


	23. Confessional Futon

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters from the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns Shaman King. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust, Hana Horutari and Frankensteiny's Oversoul. I own the rights and plot to this fanfic. Don't sue. I'm almost done :D

Author's Note: Okay, this is now the LAST chapter because, as stupid as I am, I couldn't think of a much better ending than this. It finishes basically everything off and I haven't the time to get back to it. Sorry. I would like to extend another apology to M. Zhang, who pointed out mistakes I had made with the German translations. All of my translations are via altavista so I do apologize if there were mistaken words or phrases. Gah, last chapter and all I seem to be doing is saying sorry xD. I should be celebrating!

Faust rose a brow at the Tao teen, though his face remained composed as always. His daughter had gone on rampage, nearly killing a boy in the process, she had stabbed another and he had relayed the tale of her murdering a village's worth of men. Yet Ren still wanted to see her. The doctor felt more surprised at the latter more then anything.

"I'm not sure if she's willing to talk to you yet." Ren scowled.

"I wasn't exactly willing to be stabbed either, but here I am." Ren bent his legs in and eased himself onto his feet, trying to without too much upper body movement. "And here I go." He snatched up his shirt from the desk in the room and slipped it over his arm and up his shoulder.

Faust shook his head with a sigh. "You two are more alike then I'd like to admit." Ren fumbled at one of the buttons to his shirt. His fingers paused before silently going back to work. Ren didn't answer. "I realize that's the last thing you want to hear right now."

Ren slipped on his shoes. "You're wrong." Faust glanced up, narrowing his brows.

"About what?" Ren smirked.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear right now."

" Miss Jun ATTACKED her?" Amidamaru's eyes widened considerably. Yoh nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"She just ran in and slapped her. Luckily, Bailong pulled her out before she could do anything else." Bason 'hmph!'ed loudly.

"UNlucky if you ask me." HoroHoro sorted through the snacks Manta and Chocolove had brought back from one of the stores.

"What are you tryin' to say Bason?" The chieftain glared down at the ground, arms crossed and brow knitted.

"That girl... whatever she gets is too good for her! Everything she's done to Master Ren...!" He began to ramble off in Chinese, snarling gently. Amidamaru sweat dropped.

"Calm down, Bason."

"Yeah, but Faust said it's part of an illness. So it's not really her fault, is it then?" Manta reminded. Bason shook his head.

"I don't care if she was being POSSESSED! That demon of a girl has been nothing but trouble for Master Ren!"

"You think so, do you Bason?"

"I DO! I wish there had been an AIR BUBBLE in that syringe! It would save Master Ren the trouble of having to ever talk to her again!" Bason spat. The others smiled nervously, inching away.

"You MEAN that, Bason?"

"Why WOULDN'T I?" Bason whirled around to face the voice questioning him, only to meet a pair of amber eyes. The Chinese Warrior gasped, before snapping to attention. "M-master Ren!" A quick boy with a punch to the hand and then a rise back up. "I- I did not know you had woken up!"

"I bet you didn't." Ren closed his eyes and walked past the spirit. "How's Sofia?" Bason's jaw clenched. Yoh shrugged.

"I dunno, none of us were allowed in." Ren gave him a funny look.

"Why the hell not?"

"You mean besides the whole 'mass murdering' quirk?" Chocolove arched a brow. Ren ignored him.

"Faust told us she wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet." Manta explained. The Chinese boy walked to the doors and swung them open.

"He told me that too." Bason blinked.

"Master Ren! You're planning on TALKING to her?" He ashed incredulously, aghst at the idea. The purplenette glanced over his shoulder.

"Why shouldn't I? And you're not to follow me in." He added quickly before Bason could interject. The door closed and Ren disappeared.

Bason sighed.

Ren walked into the hotel room. Several futons were laid out, only one occupied. The light filtered through make shift curtains, cooling the room a bit. He wandered further into the room, finding the ground littered with medical supplies, clothes and books. Ren furrowed his brows. It looked as if Sofia had taken her anger out on the room before even leaving the hotel that day. The last time he'd been in the Fausts' room it had been perfectly tidy.

"Aah! Ren-dono." Ren glanced. Hana hovered by Sofia's futon, where she slept with a thing cover drawn up to her shoulders. "You'll have to forgive her, she's been sleeping alot."

Ren glanced over to the brunette, whom was frowning in disprovement at Sofia. Sofia herself was taking in quick breaths, sleeping very still and turned away from him. He sighed irritably.

"You're as bad a liar as she is." Hana blinked in surprise.

"E-eh?" Ren sat beside Sofia's futon, crossing his legs.

"Just leave. I want to talk with her alone." Hana paused, her eyes shifting from Ren, to Sofia, then back to Ren. "I'm not going to hurt her if that's what she's worried about. Just talk." Hana let out a deep breath, bowed her head and then floated out to the front porch.

Sofia continued to 'sleep' and Ren scratched at the back of his head. "You've been found out so you might as well sit up." No answer, however Sofia's body stared to tremble. "Too stubborn? Sofia, you're an empath. You should be able to see that I'm not here to yell or fight with you."

No answer. Ren shook his head.

"Fine. I'll talk AT you." A loud exhale of breath came from the blonde. Ren smirked. "Disappointed?" No answer. "Well, I can at least tell that you regret what you did, I don't have to be an empath to know that." He leaned forward. "Your father told me everything. About what happened when you were eleven." Sofia went stiff. Ren nodded. "I know about your illness as well. That's about it." He placed his cheek in his palm." You must've been on medication before... so this is my first question, if you choose to show signs of life. Why did you stop taking your medication?"

Another sigh, then a small turn of the body. He could see a small patch of gauze over her cheek, and bandages wrapped over her forehead. Her face was completely monotone.

"'Cause I'm an idiot." She said simply.

Ren's eyebrows rose. Her complete demeanor was calm. Yet her words... "Is that so?" He pressed. Sofia turned to lie on her back.

"I got over confident about myself, stopped taking the pills about...," she looked back, trying to figure it out in her head. "... about a month ago." Ren nodded in acknowledgment, though still confused by her mood. "That was your first question. What's your second?" He paused.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sofia's eyebrow twitched.

"It's not exactly small talk conversation, Ren." He glared.

"I had a right to know, Sofia." She was silent for awhile, her face still smooth from expression. Finally,

"You're right. I'm sorry." Ren's eyes grew wide. He hadn't thought he would EVER hear 'You're right.' from Sofia. Ren shook his head softly, snapping back to hear Sofia.

"Pardon?"

"How's your chest?"

"You're the empath." Sofia remained silent. "Ooh. You're displaced then, are you? Is that why your face is so still? He heard her gulp down. "Why would you be displacing yourself? My chest doesn't hurt much and your injuries aren't serious." He narrowed his eyes. Sofia's hand clung to the other. "What are you keeping down?" Her jaw clenched. "Answer me!"

"I'm scared!" She cried, tears almost instantly budding. Ren's breath stopped in a gasp. The smooth expressionless face was gone. "I-I was stupid, okay! Being around you made me think I didn't need the pills and I-I-" she choked on a sob, clutching her stomach. "I couldn't... I couldn't control myself. I thought I could but... I can't. I can't even stop crying!" She sighed shakily, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm scared that if I can't control myself... it'll happen again. I'll hurt you again."

Ren simply watched as she confessed herself to him. His surprise fading and his expression slowly changing to quiet listening. Finally, she took in a deep breath, sniffling gently. She brought her hair out of her face and wiped at her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" She gulped down.

"I'm displacing my-"

"No. Stop that!" He shook his head. "Stop trying to control your emotions! They're not MEANT to be caged!" Sofia stared incredulously. Ren sighed. "Of COURSE you can't control yourself! Nobody can! If I were able to control myself than we wouldn't even be together! So stop trying!" Sofia froze, hands tugging at the front of her shirt.

"But--" Ren cut her off again.

"But what? You're scared you'll hurt someone again? Your medication can take care of that, there's no reason for you to displace your real emotions. All it does is take the part of you that people like away." Ren chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Please." He muttered. "Stop it." Sofia bowed her head. He leaned forward to watch her face. The mask slipped, her eyes crinkled with tears.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, crying softly. "I'm so sorry." Her shoulders shook gently. "I'm sorry, Ren."

The Tao boy reached over and, hesitantly, wrapped his arms over her head. He leaned his head against hers, cradling her neck.

"I..." Ren swallowed down, trying to find the right words. "I used to envy you, you know. I used to think 'She's so lucky, not having to see the gore of the world. She doesn't know what it's like to see blood ooze from a fatal wound. She doesn't know what it's like to see someone's eyes stare through you when they're dead... she doesn't know death the way I do.'

"But... after hearing about what you did... I see I was foolish- no. Stupid, to think such a thing. You know death just the same as I do. You have killed many, just as I have. Maybe more. Though you cannot see it, you feel it.

"I know that I am being honest, when I call you 'my equal'."

Sofia sat, still sniffling in his arms. She sat, staring at her hands in her lap. He forced himself to face her. No matter her answer, whether she rejected him, embraced him, or remained silent for the rest of the day, he would accept. He stood by what he said. He'd rehearsed it many times in his head on the way to the hotel. He was done with distrust. His past had rendered him with unrequited feelings.

Unrequited love.

Even if she denied him, he wasn't scared anymore. He wanted to show everything in him to the one he cared for. He wanted Sofia to be proud at the idea of being with him.

Sofia lifted her head up. Her breathing had calmed down finally. Her flushed cheeks were the only evidence that she had been crying. However, Ren's nerves tensed up with her movement. She traced her hand along the covers. He gulped down and reached his hand over to clasp hers.

She was looking down at his lap now, but she smiled and placed her other hand on top of his.

"It's hard for you to say that, isn't it?" She stated. Ren realized how thankful he was to see her smiling again. He felt welcomed be it.

It soon faded to a more calm face. She let out a deep breath. "I feel the same way. I really do, Ren." Another re-assuring smile. "And, please, know that everything I do for you from this point is not out of pity or sympathy." A sarcastic grin showed up."If anything, it's more for me. Its so I can feel you be happy. Never forget that."

"Her hands tightened over his. She was going to cry again. She bit over her bottom lip to keep it from shaking. "You know, as well as I do, that I know you. I feel proud to say that. And... I hope you can understand when I say you should a feel a little pride. Because I want you to know me. Good and bad. I want you to, maybe someday, love me." At the very WORD 'love', Ren's face went scarlet. Sofia had tears budding at the corner of her eyes. "Because I love you."

Ren's back went rigid. His eyes shot up to meet hers. She was smiling again. His hand had gone limp in hers. His voice had left him and he didn't bother trying to speak. He wasn't sure if she really was keeping her promise to stop displacement then. She didn't seem to mind him not talking. Nor did she care about the fact that she was mirroring his cold sweat.

She flinched, then pouted. "Your back is sore... you should lie down." Ren blinked a few times. Managing to get his voice back, as hoarse as it was.

"What?" Sofia brought one of her hands up to place on his chest and press him down against her futon. The entire shock and strain of their conversation had drained him enough that he let himself be pushed down. Of course, he tried to sit back up.

"Nein, nein! Stay down. You need to rest your back." He half-expected a giggle. But she wore a rather guilty look instead. Of course, why wouldn't she feel guilty? She was the reason his back hurt in the first place.

Ren sighed and lied down. The stretched-out feeling of the position did feel better. He looked up at Sofia. She was leaning her back against the wall the top of the futon was pushed up against. She smiled, what he thought was, to herself. He narrowed his eyes on her.

"You should lie down too."

Sofia blinked, before smiling again. "I'm fine Ren." The purplenette glared.

"If I have to lie down because of a weakness, so should you."

She paused, then, with an amused look over her face, lied down next to Ren. "Is this your own special way of showing concern Ren?"

"It's my own special way of showing common sense, unlike you."

Sofia smiled, turning to rest on her side and curl up closer to him. Ren's eyes widened as an arm was thrown over him and a head came to lean against his chest.

"What the hell? Get off of me!" Sofia laughed, clinging to his middle as he tried to push her off. "You're making my wound WORSE."

"Oh no I'm not, baby."

"Baby?" She giggled against him and nuzzled his chest. Ren sighed irritably. He was tired and she was still stubborn as hell. He smirked, lying his head back down on the pillow. The weight on him remained. This was his Sofia. "You're heavy, got off."

"Am I too fat?"

"Yes, you're a cow. Go eat salad and get off." She laughed again.

"Sorry."

Unfortunately, she stayed where she was. Ren rolled his eyes, instinctively throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"Ren?" He closed his eyes.

"What?"

"Goodnight." Technically, it was still mid afternoon. But he'd correct her about it later. He grunted in reply. She grinned. "Love you." Ren stiffened and he felt Sofia giggle against him.


End file.
